Céline Gounder, MD, ScM, an internationally renowned epidemiologist, infectious disease specialist, and internist, will deliver the keynote address at the Yale School of Public Health’s Commencement on May 20.
Trained at Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Washington, and Harvard University, Gounder is one of the world’s leading experts in science, medicine, and public health communication. She regularly advises local and national policymakers on issues of public health – epidemics and pandemics, the health impacts of climate change, mental health, drug overdose, and disinformation - including through her service on the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board.
She is a CBS News medical contributor, a senior fellow and Editor-at-Large for Public Health at KFF and KFF Health News, and the founder of Just Human Productions, whose podcast, Epidemic, is widely acclaimed.
Gounder is also a clinical associate professor of medicine and infectious diseases at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine, and cares for patients at Bellevue Hospital Center.
She received her BA in molecular biology from Princeton University, her master of science in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her MD from the University of Washington. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Council on Foreign Relations, and has received numerous awards for her communication and leadership in public health, including the 2023 Research!America Meeting the Moment for Public Health Award.
In a schoolwide email on Thursday, Dean Megan L. Ranney also announced that Gregg Gonsalves, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology (microbial diseases) will be this year’s faculty marshal.
This year’s YSPH Commencement will be an in-person ceremony. More details about graduation and the various ceremonies will be shared with the YSPH community in the coming weeks.