Explained: Who is Dr Ashish Jha, Joe Biden’s new Covid-19 Response Coordinator?

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For over a year now, Zients has spearheaded the Biden administration’s strategy to combat the deadly pandemic. His journey in the White House was far from easy. Not only did he have to deal with two highly infectious variants of the coronavirus — Delta and Omicron — he also had to try to overcome widespread resistance to the country’s vaccination campaign. Now with the US in the process of easing restrictions, Jha will be responsible for the government’s Covid-19 response.

Who is Dr Ashish Jha?

Jha, a practising physician, has been serving as the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health since 2020. According to a statement released by the Brown University, he is “a globally recognized expert on pandemic preparedness and response as well as on health policy research and practice.”

Jha recently advised the White House on the national Covid-19 preparedness plan, which was released by Zients and his team earlier this month. It outlines how people can eventually begin resuming normal activities as Covid restrictions are gradually lifted, AP reported.

“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. In interviews, Jha has promoted a more aggressive approach to battling the pandemic.

So, as they say…

Some news

For all the progress we’ve made in this pandemic (and there is a lot)

We still have important work to do to protect Americans’ lives and well being

So when @POTUS asked me to serve, I was honored to have the opportunityhttps://t.co/qMuf6Y4wOu

— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) March 17, 2022

Born in Pursaulia, Bihar in 1970, Jha 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. With over 200 empirical papers to his name, his work has largely focussed on improving the US’ healthcare systems. Jha is also widely known 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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