Howard Koh

Dr. Howard K. Koh is the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School as well as a member of the Faculty Executive Committee of the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative. In these roles, he advances leadership education and training at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health as well as across Harvard University. He also serves as the inaugural Chair of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Initiative on Health and Homelessness and Co-Director of the Initiative on Health, Spirituality and Religion at Harvard University. Previously at Harvard School of Public Health from 2003 to 2009, Dr. Koh was Associate Dean for Public Health Practice and Director of the School’s Center for Public Health Preparedness.

From 2009-2014, Dr. Koh was the 14th Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), after being nominated by President Barack Obama and being confirmed by the U.S. Senate. During that time, he oversaw 12 core public health offices, including the Office of the Surgeon General and the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, 10 Regional Health Offices across the nation, and 10 Presidential and Secretarial advisory committees. He served as senior public health advisor to the HHS Secretary and oversaw Healthy People 2020, the nation’s public health agenda; promoted the disease prevention and public health dimensions of the Affordable Care Act; advanced outreach to enroll underserved and minority populations into health insurance coverage; helped to coordinate federal response during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic; and was the primary architect of landmark HHS strategic plans for tobacco control, health disparities (including Asian American and Pacific Islander health) and chronic hepatitis. He led interdisciplinary implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy as well as initiatives in nutrition and physical activity (including HHS activities for Let’s Move!), cancer control, adult immunization, environmental health and climate change, women’s health, adolescent health, behavioral health and substance use disorders, health literacy, multiple chronic conditions, organ donation and epilepsy. His national service also includes a term on the National Cancer Advisory Board after being appointed by President Bill Clinton.

In his academic career, Dr. Koh has been Principal Investigator (PI) for over $28 million in research grant activities and published more than 325 articles in the medical and public health literature. His publications and writing address broad areas, such as disease prevention and health promotion, health reform, health equity (including Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Health), health and spirituality, public health emergency preparedness, health literacy and public health leadership. He has also published on specific topics such as tobacco control and cancer control, melanoma and skin oncology, the opioid crisis, health issues of the homeless, chronic hepatitis, organ donation and epilepsy.

From 1997 to 2003, Dr. Koh was Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts after being appointed by Governor William Weld. As Commissioner, he led the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which included a wide range of health services, four hospitals, and more than 3,000 health professionals. He emphasized the power of prevention and strengthened the state’s commitment to eliminating health disparities, while advancing progress in areas such as tobacco control, bioterrorism response after 9/11 and anthrax, health issues of the homeless, newborn screening, organ donation, suicide prevention and international public health partnerships.

Dr. Koh graduated from Yale College, where he was President of the Yale Glee Club, and the Yale University School of Medicine. He completed postgraduate training at Boston City Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, serving as chief resident in both hospitals. He has earned board certification in four medical fields: internal medicine, hematology, medical oncology, and dermatology, as well as a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University. At Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, he was Professor of Dermatology, Medicine and Public Health as well as Director of Cancer Prevention and Control.

Dr. Koh has earned over 70 awards and honors for interdisciplinary accomplishments in medicine and public health, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award for National Service; the Distinguished Service Award from the American Cancer Society; the 2014 Sedgwick Memorial Medal from the American Public Health Association (the highest honor of the organization); and six honorary doctorate degrees. He was named one of the four inaugural inductees into the APHA’s Asian Pacific Islander Caucus and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. In 2019, HHS established the annual Dr. Howard K. Koh Award for Excellence in Leadership, sponsored by the Federal Asian Pacific American Council.

He is on the Board of Directors of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the Truth Initiative.