Announcing 2024 PSOM Commencement Speaker Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH
March 21, 2024
With pride and enthusiasm, we invite you to celebrate the tremendous achievements of our graduating medical students at the Perelman School of Medicine’s 2024 Commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 19. Graduation will be held at the Kimmel Center as well as simultaneously broadcast for wider audiences.
It is our honor to announce Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH as our Commencement speaker. A distinguished public health scholar and leader, Dr. Jha served as the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator from April 2022 through June 2023, guiding our country through the pandemic’s pivotal COVID transition period. Now back in his role as Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, Dr. Jha is an exemplary model for the Class of 2024, representing leadership in trying times and illustrating the synergy and translation of academic medicine to public service.
Widely lauded for his expertise in public health and infectious diseases, Dr. Jha was recognized by President Biden for his “wise and calming public presence,” and his efforts that “effectively translated and communicated complex scientific challenges into concrete actions that helped save and improve the lives of millions of Americans.” Building upon his deep experience in Ebola research, Dr. Jha was well positioned to harness his knowledge of pandemic preparedness and response to support leaders and policy decisions in the age of COVID.
Originally from Pursaulia, Bihar, India, Dr. Jha graduated magna cum laude from Columbia University before attending Harvard Medical School. After serving as chief resident in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, he completed a fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Jha subsequently received his Master of Public Health degree at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he later joined the faculty, directed the Harvard Global Health Institute, and served as Dean for Global Strategy.
Dr. Jha’s research is focused on healthcare quality, cost, and policy. A member of the National Academy of Medicine, he has published more than 200 papers in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, and JAMA.
It is particularly special to honor Dr. Jha at this year’s graduation ceremony, as his efforts in public health and his leadership in addressing the COVID pandemic directly supported the students of this graduating class, many of whom began medical school in the summer of 2020 with an entirely online curriculum. The experience came with unique challenges, but also resulted in unbelievable fortitude and a spirit of and commitment to service and engagement, in particular through volunteerism in the communities we serve.
At a time of healing and hope, Dr. Jha represents the nexus of scientific rigor, clinical expertise, multidisciplinary experience, and dedication to service. We are delighted to welcome Dr. Jha as the Perelman School of Medicine’s 2024 Commencement speaker.