Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H.
Board Member
Dr. Howard Koh is the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health, Associate Dean for Public Health Practice, and Director of the Division of Public Health Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health. He serves as Director of the Harvard School of Public Health Center for Public Health Preparedness, which promotes education about bioterrorism, pandemic influenza, and other emerging health threats. He is also Principal Investigator of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded program MASSCONECT (Massachusetts Community Networks to Eliminate Cancer Disparities through Education, Research and Training), a community-based initiative to eliminate cancer disparities in underserved minority communities.
Dr. Koh graduated from Yale College (where he was the 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. Then, 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. He has published over 200 articles in the medical and public health literature, addressing issues such as cancer prevention and control, tobacco control, health disparities, emergency preparedness, skin oncology (melanoma and cutaneous lymphoma) and multiple other topics in health policy and public health practice.
After being appointed by Governor William Weld, Dr. Koh served as Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1997-2003) and led the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which included a wide range of services, four public health hospitals, and a staff of over 3000 professionals. In this capacity, he emphasized the power of prevention and strengthened the state's commitment to eliminating health disparities. During this time, Massachusetts ranked as one of the healthiest states in the country, with advances in areas such as tobacco control, cancer screening, coordination of emergency medical services, bioterrorism response, health issues of the homeless, newborn screening, organ donation, suicide prevention, and international public health partnerships.
Dr. Koh has received numerous awards and honors for his interdisciplinary accomplishments in medicine and public health. President Bill Clinton appointed Dr. Koh to the National Cancer Advisory Board (2000-2002). In addition, Dr. Koh received the Drs. Jack E.White/LaSalle D.Leffall, Jr Cancer Prevention Award from the American Association for Cancer Research and the Intercultural Cancer Council, as well as the national Distinguished Service Award from the American Cancer Society. He was elected into the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies and is a member of the IOM Roundtable on Health Disparities. As a past Chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for a Healthy Future, the organization that pushed for the Commonwealth's groundbreaking tobacco control initiative, he was named by the New England Division of the American Cancer Society as "one of the most influential persons in the fight against tobacco during the last 25 years". He was recently appointed to the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection and Control Advisory Committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Other awards include being named to the K100 (the 100 leading Korean Americans in the first century of Korean immigration to the United States), recognition by the Boston Red Sox as a "Medical All Star" (which included the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park), the Boston University School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Award (the highest award of the School), and an honorary degree from Merrimack College. He has served on Boards for the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics, the Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative (co-chair), the Partnership for HealthCare Excellence, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the new Journal of Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness (Associate Board) and the Pike School. He and his wife, Dr. Claudia Arrigg, are the proud parents of three children.