Vivek Murthy

Vivek H. Murthy
19th Surgeon General of the United States
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 18, 2014
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Boris Lushniak (Acting)
Personal details
Born Vivek Hallegere Murthy
July 10, 1977
Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Harvard University
Yale University
Military service
Allegiance  United States
Service/branch U.S. Public Health Service
Years of service 2014–present
Rank Vice Admiral
Unit USPHS Commissioned Corps

Vivek Hallegere Murthy (born July 10, 1977[1]) is a Indian-American physician, a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the 19th Surgeon General of the United States.[2] Murthy, founder of nonprofit Doctors for America, succeeded Boris D. Lushniak, who had been Acting Surgeon General since 2013.[2]

Early life and education

Murthy was born in Huddersfield, England, to immigrants from Karnataka, India. When he was three years old, the family relocated to Miami, Florida,[1] where Murthy completed his early education, graduating as valedictorian from Miami Palmetto Senior High School in 1994.[3] He then attended college at Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in Biochemical Sciences.[3] In 2003, Murthy received an MD from Yale School of Medicine and an MBA in Health Care Management from Yale School of Management.[4][5] He completed his residency in Internal Medicine in 2006 from Brigham and Women's Hospital.[6]

Career

While a Harvard freshman in 1995, Murthy co-founded VISIONS Worldwide, which he led for eight years. The nonprofit organization focused on HIV/AIDS education in the U.S. and India. In 1997, he co-founded Swasthya Community Health Partnership to help women to be health providers and educators to rural Indians.[5][7]

Medical career

Murthy completed his residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.[7] Murthy has also led and managed medical care teams at Brigham and Women's Hospital for over a decade. He has trained hundreds of medical students and residents and has cared for thousands of patients as an internal medicine physician. He also continues to practice medicine.

He is also a founder and president of Doctors for America, a group of 15,000 physicians and medical students supporting comprehensive health reform.[8][9] He has managed staff and hundreds of volunteers, developed and executed strategic plans and national and local initiatives around coverage and prevention. He has also directed fundraising, managed budgets, built a broad array of partnerships with community-based organizations across the country. In 2011, Murthy was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.[10] The group advises the National Prevention Council on developing strategies and partnerships to advance the nation's health.[11]

He is co-founder and chairman of TrialNetworks, a cloud-based Clinical Trial Optimization System for pharmaceutical and biotechnology trials that improves the quality and efficiency of clinical trials to bring new drugs to market faster and more safely.[12][13] He founded the company as Epernicus in 2008 to originally be a collaborative networking web platform for scientists to boost research productivity.[14]

Surgeon General of the United States

In November 2013, Murthy was nominated by President Obama for the post of United States Surgeon General.[14] His nomination met some initial resistance in the Senate by both Democrats and Republicans. The most opposition came from the National Rifle Association regarding previous comments Dr. Murthy made citing gun violence as a threat to public health.[15] However, Murthy said in his confirmation hearings he would not use the office of Surgeon General as a bully pulpit for gun control.[16][17]

Murthy's nomination received broad support from over 100 medical and public health organizations in the U.S., including the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the American Diabetes Association.[18] He also received the endorsements of two former Surgeons General, Dr. David Satcher and Dr. Regina Benjamin. However, another former Surgeon General, Dr. Richard Carmona opposed the appointment based on the lack of Dr. Murthy's experience in public health and medicine in general.

Murthy's appointment as Surgeon General was approved on December 15, 2014, in a 51–43 vote.[19]

In February 2015, Murthy declared that cannabis "can be helpful" for some medical conditions. He also stated that science should determine policy on the federally banned substance.[20]

Awards

Badge of the Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services
Surgeon General of the United States Badge
Public Health Service Regular Corps Ribbon
Commissioned Corps Training Ribbon

References

Official biography of the Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Straehley, Steve (December 25, 2014). "Surgeon General of the United States: Who Is Vivek Murthy?". AllGov.com. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Clark, Charles S. (December 23, 2014). "Health Service Marks Banner Year Without a Surgeon General". Government Executive (National Journal Group). Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wen, Patricia; Bierman, Noah (November 16, 2013). "High praise at home for surgeon general nominee". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  4. ↑ Brown, Nell Porter (September–October 2003). "'Medicine changes you.' Vivek Murthy '98 — Internal Medicine Resident - Boston". Harvard Magazine (Harvard Magazine Inc.): 36H. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Spring 1998 Fellows". Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. 1998. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA". Brigham and Women's Hospital. 2013. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Biography of the Surgeon General Vice Admiral (VADM) Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., M.B.A.". SurgeonGeneral.gov. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  8. ↑ Kenny, Steve (November 14, 2013). "Obama Selects Health Policy Advocate as Surgeon General". New York Times. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Obama Picks Vivek Hallegere Murthy For Surgeon General". Huffington Post. Reuters. November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  10. ↑ Gil, Gideon (November 14, 2013). "Obama nominating Dr. Vivek Murthy of Harvard and Brigham and Women's as surgeon general". Boston Globe. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Prevention Advisory Group". SurgeonGeneral.gov. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  12. ↑ Larabee, John (October 22, 2013). "Needham's TrialNetworks rolls out platform to help drug developers with clinical trials". Boston Business Journal (American City Business Journals).
  13. ↑ "TrialNetworks: Leadership". 2013. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". The White House. November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  15. ↑ Barnet, Shannon (December 16, 2014). "Dr. Vivek Murthy confirmed as surgeon general". Becker's Hospital Review. Becker's Healthcare.
  16. ↑ O'Keefe, Ed; Dennis, Brady (December 15, 2014). "Surgeon general nominee Vivek Murthy, opposed by gun lobby, confirmed". Washington Post.
  17. ↑ Eilperin, Juliet (March 26, 2014). "Chances for Obama nominees to be confirmed are falling, even with over two years to go". Washington Post.
  18. ↑ "More Than 100 National Organizations Demonstrate Strong Support for Dr. Vivek Murthy as the next Surgeon General". Trust for America's Health (Press release). November 12, 2014.
  19. ↑ Nolen, John (December 15, 2014). "Senate finally confirms Surgeon General nominee". CBS News. Retrieved December 15, 2014.
  20. ↑ Ferner, Matt. "U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Says Marijuana 'Can Be Helpful' For Some Medical Conditions". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
Military offices
Preceded by
Boris Lushniak
Acting		 Surgeon General of the United States
2014–present 		Incumbent