Dr. Howard Koh is the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health and director of the Division of Public Health Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Focusing on cancer control and prevention, Dr. Koh is developing innovative interdisciplinary approaches to promote and protect the health of communities. Dr. Koh was among the first to apply cancer-screening principles and generate national data on melanoma prevention and education. As Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health from 1997 to 2003, he oversaw his groundbreaking Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program. At Harvard, he advances other community-based strategies to promote cancer prevention and early detection in collaboration with such organizations as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Dr. Koh is principal investigator of the NCI-funded, five-year program MassCONECT (Massachusetts Community Networks to Eliminate Cancer Disparities through Education, Research and Training), which brings underserved and underinsured minority populations such critical services as breast and cervical cancer screening.
President Barack Obama has announced his intention to nominate Dr. Koh for Assistant Secretary of Health.
