Austin doctor tapped to be chief medical officer for Homeland Security

President Joe Biden has tapped an Austin doctor to become chief medical officer of the Department of Homeland Security.

Dr. Pritesh Gandhi will serve as the principal adviser to the DHS secretary, the FEMA administrator, and DHS senior leadership on medical and public health issues related to natural disasters, border health, pandemic response, acts of terrorism, and other manmade disasters.

DOWNLOAD THE FOX 7 AUSTIN NEWS APP

In addition to his work with People's Community Clinic in Austin, Dr. Gandhi recently served as an associate faculty member at UT Austin's Dell Medical School.

According to his Dell Medical School biography, Dr. Gandhi is an internist, pediatrician, and community advocate who focuses on community-based, poverty-reduction initiatives and social determinants of health. He also holds degrees in international relations and economics from Tufts University and he completed his M.D. and MPH at Tufts School of Medicine.

SIGN UP FOR FOX 7 AUSTIN EMAIL ALERTS

RELATED: Austin healthcare clinic treating uninsured, underinsured patients reportedly experiencing PPE shortage

He is also a 2018 Presidential Leadership scholar — a joint initiative from the presidential centers of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Lyndon B. Johnson that brings together diverse, high-performing professionals from across the nonprofit, military, public and private sectors to learn leadership lessons first-hand from the four presidencies and Presidents Bush and Clinton, says the biography.

Health CareAustinJoe Biden