Ashish Jha, an
Indian-American doctor, has been appointed the chief COVID coordinator for the
White House. Jha, who will replace Jeff Zients in April, takes charge at a time
when COVID-19 cases are declining across the United States even as there is a
looming threat as cases have been rising across Europe. US President Joe Biden
said Thursday, “I am excited to name Dr Ashish Jha as the new White House Covid
Response Coordinator.”

“Dr Jha is one of
the leading public health experts in America and a well-known public figure to
many Americans from his wise and calming public presence.”

Following his
appointment, Jha tweeted, “So, as they say…Some news. For all the progress we’ve
made in this pandemic (and there is a lot). We still have important work to do
to protect Americans’ lives and well-being. So, when @POTUS asked me to serve,
I was honoured to have the opportunity.”

The 51-year-old
public health professional, an expert in infectious diseases, was born in the
Indian state of Bihar’s Paursalia in 1970. In 1979, Jha and his family migrated
to Canada. Subsequently, in 1983, the family moved to the United States.

Ashish Jha
graduated from Columbia in 1992, went on to earn an MD from the Harvard Medical
School in 1997 and then trained in internal medicine at the University of
California, according to the physician’s profile on the Brown University
website.

He then went on to
do his general medicine fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard
Medical School. In 2004, Jha received his master degree in public health from
the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Jha has been serving as the
death of Brown University School of Public Health.

The website states
Jha is “recognized globally as an expert on pandemic preparedness and response
as well as health policy research and practice. He has led ground-breaking
research around Ebola and is now on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response.”