Vivek Murthy

About Vivek Murthy

Dr. Vivek H. Murthy is the 21st Surgeon General of the United States. He also served as the 19th Surgeon General under President Barack Obama. As the Vice Admiral of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, he commanded a uniformed service of 6,600 public health officers globally. During his tenure, Dr. Murthy launched the TurnTheTide campaign, catalyzing a movement among health professionals to address the nation’s opioid crisis. He also issued the first Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health, calling for expanded access to prevention and treatment and for recognizing addiction as a chronic illness, not a character flaw. An internal medicine physician and entrepreneur, in 2017 Dr. Murthy focused his attention on chronic stress and isolation as prevalent problems that have profound implications for health, productivity, and happiness. He has co-founded a number of organizations: VISIONS, an HIV/AIDS education program in India; Swasthya, a community health partnership in rural India training women as health providers and educators; software company TrialNetworks; and Doctors for America. 

Dr. Murthy was born in Huddersfield, England. His parents are originally from Karnataka state, India, but settled in Miami, Florida when he was three years old. Dr. Murthy received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard and his M.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Yale. He completed his internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and later joined Harvard Medical School as faculty in internal medicine. His research focused on vaccine development and later on the participation of women and minorities in clinical trials. Dr. Murthy resides in Washington, D.C. with his wife Dr. Alice Chen and their two young children. This spring Dr. Murthy’s first book “Together- The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World” was published by HarperCollins and made the New York Times Best Seller list. He was recently named by President-elect Joe Biden as the Co-Chair of the US COVID-19 Transition Advisory Board.