Dr. Howard Koh has maintained a commitment to developing innovative interdisciplinary approaches to promote and protect the health of communities while serving as Director of the Division of Public Health Practice from 2004-2009. Hence his interests span the dimensions of science, research, education, communication, policy, advocacy, and leadership. He has drawn upon his past experience as Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health (1997-2003) to advance current projects with a broad array of state and national organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
A major focus of his career has been on cancer prevention and control. His research has explored community-based strategies to reduce cancer disparities and promote cancer prevention and early detection. In this regard, he has served as Principal Investigator of the NCI-funded initiative MassCONECT (Massachusetts Community Networks to Eliminate Cancer Disparities through Education, Research, and Training), a 5-year project to reduce cancer disparities in low income, minority communities. The initiative promotes not only cancer control for underserved multicultural populations but also community-based participatory research in areas such as breast and cervical cancer screening for uninsured and underinsured women. In the field of melanoma/skin cancer control, Dr. Koh was among the first to apply cancer screening principles and generate initial national data on the topic. He has also published extensively on aspects of melanoma prevention and education.
Furthermore, another major cancer prevention emphasis has been on tobacco control, drawing upon his experiences in establishing (as Chair of the Massachusetts Coalition for a Healthy Future) and then overseeing (as Commissioner of Public Health for Massachusetts) the groundbreaking Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program. His publications in tobacco control have investigated areas such as the impact of comprehensive statewide tobacco control programs on public health, cancer and health trends related to tobacco use, product design issues for cigarettes, and changing global norms regarding second hand smoke exposure.
Dr. Koh has served 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. This interest stems from his work as a state health commissioner during the U.S. anthrax attacks in 2001. The Center is funded by a 4-year grant from the CDC. Specific topic areas include emergency preparedness as a catalyst to regionalize local public health, strategies for protection of vulnerable populations, surge capacity for public health, drills and exercises as a mode of training for emergency preparedness, risk communication, social capital and emergency preparedness, volunteer efforts of the Medical Reserve Corps, and ethical and legal issues of altered standards of care in mass casualties.
His work in health disparities has included attention not only on cancer disparities and vulnerable populations in emergency preparedness, as noted above, but also on Asian-American health and policy approaches to reduce health disparities such as seen in the landmark Massachusetts Health Care Reform.
Finally, he has published on a broad range of other medical and public health topics including clinical aspects of skin oncology (melanoma and cutaneous lymphoma), organ donation as a public health issue, coordination of health care for the homeless, newborn screening, human rights and public health, and leadership in public health practice.
On June 19, 2009, Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Secretary, announced that the U.S. Senate had unanimously
confirmed Dr. Koh as the next Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He is currently on leave at Harvard University.