Dr. Rachel Levine, ASTHO President, Nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 19, 2021
CONTACT: Kyle Taylor Director, Communications, NASTAD ktaylor@NASTAD.org
Dr. Rachel Levine, ASTHO President, Nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH)
Washington, DC - Today, Dr. Rachel Levine, President of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), has been nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to the role of Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH) at the Department of Health and Human Services. (HHS).
Dr. Levine is an accomplished pediatrician who currently serves as the Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine, and as president of ASTHO. In her various roles, she has led Pennsylvania’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic; spearheaded efforts to end the opioid epidemic; and advocated on behalf of the LGBTQ community. With this nomination, Dr. Levine would become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
“NASTAD and its membership congratulate Dr. Rachel Levine on this nomination and we are excited to witness all that she will accomplish in this role,” said Stephen Lee, NASTAD’s Executive Director. “We know that Dr. Levine has the knowledge, experience, and expertise to lead public health efforts that will combat the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as, work to end the intersecting epidemics of HIV, viral hepatitis, and related conditions.”
Below is the White House announcement that was made today:
Dr. Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health at the United States Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Rachel Levine is currently the Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at the Penn State College of Medicine. She is the President of ASTHO, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, and the Academy for Eating Disorders. Dr. Levine joined Governor Tom Wolf’s administration in January 2015 as the Physician General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and served from 2015 to 2017. She was named Acting Secretary of Health in July 2017 and confirmed as Secretary of Health in March 2018. Her previous posts included: Vice-Chair for Clinical Affairs for the Department of Pediatrics and Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Eating Disorders at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. In addition to her recent posts, Dr. Levine is also an accomplished regional and international speaker, and author on the opioid crisis, medical marijuana, adolescent medicine, eating disorders, and LGBTQ+ medicine. Dr. Levine graduated from Harvard College and the Tulane University School of Medicine. She completed her training in Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City.
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About NASTAD
Founded in 1992, NASTAD is a leading non-partisan non-profit association that represents public health officials who administer HIV and hepatitis programs in the U.S. and around the world. Our singular mission is to end the intersecting epidemics of HIV, viral hepatitis, and related conditions. We do this work by strengthening domestic and global governmental public health through advocacy, capacity building, and social justice.