Perspectives from the Frontline of the Fight for Public Health: A Live Q&A with Leana Wen

Leana Wen likes to say: “Public health saved your life today. You just don’t know it.” Join the conversation as she describes her experience on the frontlines of this critical—and often invisible—field. 

An emergency physician and former Baltimore health commissioner, Wen will share her firsthand experience fighting the opioid epidemic, addressing a crisis of gun violence, and dismantling disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Wen will offer insights from a remarkable personal journey encompassing her childhood emigration from China to the U.S., her family’s experience with food and housing insecurity, and her own career as a clinician, public health leader, CNN medical analyst, Washington Post columnist, and author of the memoir Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health. 

The live-streamed conversation will be moderated by Leonard Marcus, Founding Co-Director of the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative, a joint program of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Center for Public Leadership.