Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has just been appointed as California’s first-ever Surgeon General. Governor Gavin Newsom announced the news on Monday. According to NBC News, Newsom said in a news release that Harris “will focus on combating the root causes of serious health conditions and use her office to reach young families across the state.”
After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1996, Harris went on to obtain her medical degree from the University of California Davis School of Medicine. She then earned a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University and completed her residency in pediatrics at Stanford University.
As a national leader in pediatric medicine and founder and CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness, Dr. Harris has served as an advisor on former California’s Governor Jerry Brown’s “Let’s Get Healthy California Task Force” and as a committee member for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Medical Home for Children Exposed to Violence Committee. She was also a former appointee by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom to the San Francisco Citizens’ Committee for Community Development.
In her new role, Dr. Harris will remain dedicated to her work of helping underserved communities and improving the health of 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren who are exposed to traumatic experiences. She’s set to be sworn in as California’s first Surgeon General on February 11.
