Baker-Polito Administration Announces
COVID-19 Response Command Center Advisory Board of Medical
Experts, Infectious Disease Specialists
Advisory Board to contribute
to state strategic decision making body tasked with leading COVID-19 pandemic
response
BOSTON – Today, the
Baker-Polito Administration announced the COVID-19 Advisory Board, a group of
medical experts that will support the Response Command Center as the
Commonwealth continues to respond to COVID-19.
The Response Command Center, under the leadership of
Secretary Marylou Sudders and reporting to Governor Charlie Baker and Lt.
Governor Karyn Polito, is the Commonwealth’s single point of strategic decision
making and coordination for the Administration’s comprehensive COVID-19
response.
The COVID-19 Advisory Board, which first met on Wednesday, March 19, will advise
the COVID-19 Response Command Center on key decision points in the state’s
response, including expanding access to testing and planning for medical surge,
and will formally meet weekly for updates. Advisory Board members include:
Scott Gottlieb, MD, American Enterprise
Institute – Scott Gottlieb, M.D., is a resident fellow at the American
Enterprise Institute (AEI). He returned to AEI in 2019 after serving as the
23rd commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). At AEI, he
continues his work on improving public health through entrepreneurship and
medical innovation and on expanding regulatory approaches to maintain patient
and physician autonomy.
Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, Massachusetts
General Hospital – Dr. Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, is Professor of Medicine at
Harvard Medical School and a practicing Infectious Disease physician at
Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Walensky's
research interests focus on model-based analyses of the cost-effectiveness of
HIV testing, care, and prevention strategies to inform HIV/AIDS policy
internationally and domestically.
Paul Biddinger, MD, Massachusetts General
Hospital – Dr. Paul Biddinger holds the MGH Endowed Chair in Emergency
Preparedness and is the Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine, and Vice
Chairman for Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Emergency Medicine at
Mass General. He is also the Director for Emergency Preparedness at Partners
Healthcare. Dr. Biddinger additionally serves as the Director of the Emergency
Preparedness Research, Evaluation and Practice (EPREP) Program at the Harvard
T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and holds appointments at Harvard Medical
School and at the Chan School. Dr. Biddinger serves as a special advisor to the
Massachusetts Medical Society’s Committee on Preparedness and serves as a
medical officer for the MA-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) in the
National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in the US Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS).
Michael Wagner, MD, FACP, Wellforce – Dr.
Michael Wagner is a physician leader who combines his unique experience as a
primary care physician, hospitalist, entrepreneur and CEO to transform health
care. Dr. Wagner has worked with caregivers in academic and community health
care settings throughout the country. Today, he is the Interim CEO and Chief
Physician Executive of Wellforce, a $2B and growing health system in Eastern
Massachusetts that has been recognized for its high quality, lower cost value
position and its commitment to keeping care in the community.
Eric Lander, PhD, Broad Institute – Eric Lander is president and founding director of the Broad
Institute of MIT and Harvard. A geneticist, molecular biologist, and
mathematician, he has played a pioneering role in all aspects of the reading,
understanding, and biomedical application of the human genome. He was a
principal leader of the Human Genome Project.
The Baker-Polito Administration announced the creation of a
new COVID-19 Response Command Center on March 14, 2020.
The Administration will continue to update the public on
further developments and individuals are encouraged to consult both the Department of Public Health and
the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
websites for the most up to date information.
