Ashish Jha

Ashish Jha
White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator
In office
April 5, 2022 – June 30, 2023
PresidentJoe Biden
DeputyLisa Barclay
Preceded byJeff Zients
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Dean, Brown University School of Public Health
Incumbent
Assumed office
February 2020
Preceded byBess Marcus
Personal details
Born (1970-12-31) December 31, 1970 (age 53)
Madhubani, India
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Harvard University (MD, MPH)

Ashish Kumar Jha (born December 31, 1970) is an Indian-American general internist physician and academic who served as the White House COVID-19 response coordinator from 2022–2023. He has been Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health since 2020.[1] Prior to Brown, he was the K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, faculty director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, and a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group. Jha is recognized as one of the leading health policy scholars in the nation.[1][2][3] Jha's role at Brown University focuses on improving the quality and cost of health care, and on the impact of public health policy.[3]

Education and early career

Ashish Kumar Jha was born in Pursaulia, Madhubani, Bihar, India, on December 31, 1970.[4] Both of Jha's parents worked as educators.[5] His family moved to Toronto, Canada, in 1979 and to Morris County, New Jersey, US in 1984.[6]

Jha graduated from Boonton High School in Boonton, New Jersey, as the valedictorian of the class of 1988 and the editor in chief of the school's newspaper.[7] He attended Columbia University, where he studied pre-med and economics and was president of Earl Hall's student governing board.[8] Jha graduated from Columbia in 1992 with a B.A. in economics.[8][9]

Jha received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1997 and then trained as a resident in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed a Chief Residency year at UCSF. Between 2001 and 2002, he served as the Inaugural Under Secretary's Special Fellow for Quality and Safety in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Jha returned to Boston in 2002 to complete his fellowship in general medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

In 2004, Jha completed a Master of Public Health degree at the Harvard School of Public Health.[10]

Jha speaking before the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging in 2014

Career

Jha worked as the K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Faculty Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, as well as a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group. On September 1, 2020, he became the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.[3] He remains an adjunct professor of Global Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[11] At Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, his research focused on improving the quality of health care and addressing the high cost of health care in the United States.[12]

Jha testifies to the House Committee on Ways and Means in May 2019

COVID-19 pandemic

In mid-March 2020, Jha called for a two-week national quarantine across the United States to reduce the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] He argued that it takes up to two weeks for those already infected with the virus to begin showing symptoms; given the lack of COVID-19 testing in the U.S., a two-week quarantine would help public health better assess how widespread the disease is to better inform decision-making.[14][15] He has also advocated for the need to vastly strengthen healthcare infrastructure and increase the manufacturing of personal protective equipment to keep healthcare workers safe. He has testified multiple times in front of Congress as an expert helping guide policymakers on how best to help the US navigate the pandemic.[16][17]

Between March 2020 and May 2021, Jha was mentioned on cable and network news approximately 60,000 times.[5]

Jha serves on the National Advisory Council for COVID Collaborative.[18]

Jha speaking in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 26, 2022

In March 2022, it was announced that Jha would succeed Jeffrey Zients as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator.[19][7] Jha succeeded Zients on April 5, 2022.[19]

Brown University School of Public Health

Jha took office as the third dean of the Brown University School of Public Health[20] in September 2020, following appointment in March that year.[21] During Jha's tenure and the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic, the school expanded its programs, physical footprint, and faculty.[22][23]

Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ a b McGowan, Dan (1 September 2020). "One of the best-known public health experts in the world is taking his talents to Brown University". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  2. ^ Finucane, Martin (August 13, 2020). "Harvard pandemic expert Ashish Jha takes a more optimistic view of the fall and winter - The Boston Globe". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  3. ^ a b c "Accomplished physician, public health scholar named School of Public Health dean at Brown". Brown University. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Jha, Ashish". vivo.brown.edu. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  5. ^ a b "How Ashish Jha became network TV's everyman expert on Covid". STAT. 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  6. ^ Boston, 677 Huntington Avenue; Ma 02115 +1495‑1000 (2014-05-13). "The provocative pragmatist". News. Retrieved 2020-12-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (2022-03-20). "Can Ashish Jha, 'a Comforting Voice,' Tamp Down Covid's Political Divide?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  8. ^ a b Katz, Jamie (12 June 2020). "Pandemic Expert Dr. Ashish Jha '92: "We Will Get Through This."". Columbia College Today. Archived from the original on 2020-06-18. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  9. ^ Miller, G. Wayne. "Virtual Dr. Jha will answer your COVID questions now". The Providence Journal. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  10. ^ Hunter, David. "Ashish Jha, MD '97, MPH '04 promoted to Professor of Health Policy and Management". alumni.sph.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  11. ^ "Ashish Jha". Harvard. 4 May 2022.
  12. ^ Avenue, 677 Huntington; Boston; Ma 02115 (2014-05-13). "The provocative pragmatist". News. Retrieved 2024-02-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ "Why a top Harvard doctor is calling for a 'national quarantine' to stem the effects of the coronavirus pandemic". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  14. ^ Jha, Ashish; Carroll, Aaron E. (2020-03-19). "This Is How We Can Beat the Coronavirus". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  15. ^ Jha, Ashish; Carroll, Aaron E. (2020-03-23). "Don't Halt Social Distancing. Instead, Do It Right". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  16. ^ "In front of Congress, Dr. Ashish Jha stresses a global approach to ending COVID-19 pandemic". Brown University (Press release). 2021-03-18.
  17. ^ "Dr. Ashish Jha testifies before Congress on nation's bumpy COVID-19 vaccine rollout". Brown University (Press release). 2021-02-26.
  18. ^ "About". COVID Collaborative. October 20, 2021. Retrieved March 18, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Shear, Michael D.; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (2022-03-17). "Jeff Zients to Leave as Biden's Covid Czar and Be Replaced by Ashish Jha". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
  20. ^ King, Kamran (2020-03-10). "University appoints Dr. Ashish Jha as new School of Public Health dean". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  21. ^ Goetz, Marlene (2020-09-14). "Public health leader Ashish Jha begins as dean of Brown University School of Public Health". Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  22. ^ "School of Public Health hires former Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees". The Brown Daily Herald. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  23. ^ MacDonald, Mary (2021-03-30). "Brown University plans expansion of School of Public Health". Providence Business News. Retrieved 2022-01-30.
  24. ^ Scanlon, Jessie (10 December 2020). "Ashish Jha: Speaking out for science and for public health in the pandemic". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  25. ^ "World's 50 Greatest Leaders". Fortune. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  26. ^ "Outstanding Achievement in Public Health Awards, generously supported by Johnson & Johnson". Research America. 26 August 2021. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Order of Exercises | UMass Lowell". www.uml.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  28. ^ "Dr. Ashish K. Jha CC'92". Columbia College Alumni Association. 2022-12-19. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
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