Washington: Indian-American public health expert Dr Ashish K Jha will be replacing Jeffrey D Zients as the White House's next Covid-19 Response Coordinator and he has been appointed by US President Joe Biden on March 17.
"As we enter a new moment in the pandemic — executing on my National Covid-19 Preparedness Plan and managing the ongoing risks from Covid — Dr Jha is the perfect person for the job," President Biden's statement on Jha's appointment read.
"I appreciate both Jeff and Dr Jha for working closely to ensure a smooth transition, and I look forward to continued progress in the months ahead, " the US President added.
Dr. Jha's predecessor Zients, who is set to leave the administration next month, has led the Biden administration's strategy to tackle the deadly pandemic. Zients had to face some obstacles during his stint at the White House and his journey was a tough one.
He had to try to overcome widespread resistance to the country's vaccination campaign apart from having to deal with two highly infectious variants of the coronavirus, namely the Delta and Omicron strain.
Dr. Jha is a practising physician and he has been serving as the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health since 2020.
As per a statement released by the Brown University, Dr. Jha happens to be a globally recognized expert on pandemic preparedness and response as well as on health policy research and practice.
He recently advised the White House on the national Covid-19 preparedness plan, which was released by Zients and his team earlier this month. The plan highlights how people can eventually begin to resume normal activities as Covid restrictions are gradually eased.
"I am honoured to accept President Biden's invitation and do so confident that the School of Public Health will advance around critical issues including pandemic preparedness and key initiatives we have launched to improve understanding and policy in key public health issues, and train the next generation of public health leaders," Jha said in a statement.
Dr. Jha has advocated for a more aggressive approach to combating the pandemic in his interviews.
He took to his official Twitter account to confirm his appointment.
He was born in Pursaulia in Bihar in 1970 and he migrated to Canada with his parents nine years later and to the United States in 1983. He graduated from Columbia University with a BA in economics and later received his MD from Harvard Medical School.
He has previously led the Harvard Global Health Institute and has taught at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School.
His work primarily focuses on improving the healthcare systems in the US and he has more than 200 empirical papers to his name. He is also widely recognized for his groundbreaking research on Ebola.
He has previously served as special assistant to the secretary in the Department of Veterans Affairs from 2009 to 2013. He was also a co-chair of an international commission on the global response to the Ebola outbreak.
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