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Jha stepping down as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health

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12/04/2025

Biden — DR. ASHISH K. Jha, who served as the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator at the request of then-President Joe Biden, is stepping down as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health at the end of the year. / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO / SUSAN WALSH

PROVIDENCE – Dr. Ashish K. Jha, who served as the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator at the request of then-President Joe Biden, is stepping down as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health at the end of the year. The university said Thursday Jha is leaving Brown to help bolster the nation’s defenses against

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PROVIDENCE – Dr. Ashish K. Jha, who served as the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator at the request of then-President Joe Biden, is stepping down as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health at the end of the year. The university said Thursday Jha is leaving Brown to help bolster the nation’s defenses against emerging pandemic and biological threats, an initiative he started at the White House while on temporary leave from the university in 2022. Jha’s final day at Brown will be Dec. 31. Dr. Francesca L. Beaudoin, academic dean of the School of Public Health and a professor of epidemiology and emergency medicine, will serve as interim dean of the school. “As the U.S. and other nations have continued to witness the impact of avian flu, mpox, COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, Ashish’s work can bring scientists, policymakers and organizations together to develop solutions to confront a new era of biological threats,” Brown Provost Francis J. Doyle III said. “This work holds the potential to connect directly with the pioneering work in Brown’s School of Public Health to advance pandemic preparedness and response.” Jha was appointed to lead the School of Public Health in February 2020, weeks before COVID-19 grew to a major public health crisis for the United States. He began his tenure as dean in September 2020, and under his leadership, the school experienced a period of growth and expansion. In March 2022, President Joe Biden selected Jha to replace White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients, who left after just 14 months with the administration. Jha returned to Brown in June 2023 after the federal health emergency expired in May. In Fall 2023, the School of Public Health expanded into 155 South Main St., which now houses the school’s Mindfulness Center; Survey, Qualitative and Applied Data Research Core; and Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute. “Ashish’s dedication to serving the nation and the world has been the hallmark of his work at the School of Public Health,” Brown President Christina H. Paxson said. “His legacy at Brown will be his cultivation of high-impact initiatives that improve the health and lives of millions of people around the world. We have strengthened our reputation for leveraging data and science to develop solutions to complex public health challenges.” Prior to arriving at Brown, Jha was the faculty director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. While in that role, he was a practicing general internist at the V.A. Boston Healthcare System, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a professor of global health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. At the Harvard Chan School, he served as dean for global strategy from 2018 until departing to come to Brown. Jha earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Columbia University in 1992 and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1997 before training in internal medicine at the University of California in San Francisco. He completed his general medicine fellowship at Brigham & Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School and received his master of public health in 2004 from Harvard’s Chan School.