Ashwin Vasan, MD, PhD

Dr. Ashwin Vasan is physician, epidemiologist, health and mental health leader with 20+ years of experience in public, nonprofit, multilateral and academic sectors in the US and globally. He most recently served as the 44th New York City Health Commissioner, where he led the city out of the COVID-19 pandemic, confronting new and growing crises including mental health, mpox, and access and affordability of care, all while reorienting the city’s health strategy to improve life expectancy through HealthyNYC, the city’s plan to combat the leading causes of preventable and premature death. Prior to this he served as the CEO of Fountain House, a mental health nonprofit serving those with severe needs, and grew the organization nationally, while doubling its budget and expanding its policy influence at state and federal levels. He spent his early career working globally on the HIV/AIDS pandemic with Partners In Health, the World Health Organization.

He is widely recognized as a visionary leader and pragmatic operator that delivers results. His work in policy, politics, strategy, research, advocacy and programs has focused on improving health of marginalized people and communities, understanding that the quality of any society is measured by how it supports the vulnerable, and that everyone wins when we care for those in need. His experience as a front-line healthcare provider and executive leader informs his efforts to drive large scale organizational and systems change, build high performing teams, and to influence health, social, economic and structural factors that impact health at scale. Dr Vasan is driven by the idea that health, and access to the basic foundations of what creates health, is a fundamental right, but also something that needs to be intentionally designed for through ambitious and muscular public policy and private and nonprofit partnerships.