Dr. Ashwin Vasan, ScM, MD, PhD, a practicing physician and distinguished public health leader and innovator, has joined the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) as a Senior Fellow in the Department of Health Policy and Management (HPM).
Dr. Vasan most recently served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the largest municipal government health department in the world.
As New York’s health commissioner, from his appointment in late 2021 through late 2024, Dr. Vasan led the city out of COVID-19 and spearheaded the response to the 2022 mpox outbreak when New York was its epicenter. Simultaneously, he reoriented the city’s public health system to focus on the main drivers of declining life expectancy, including chronic and diet-related diseases, overdoses, gun violence, and birth inequities.
Dr. Vasan launched HealthyNYC, the city’s strategy for healthier, longer lives, which was ultimately passed into local law. He developed an innovative plan to address a mental health crisis among the city’s youth, people with serious mental illness, and those at risk of drug overdose, and prioritized staff and worksite wellness. Under Dr. Vasan’s leadership, the city also established its Climate and Health program to mitigate the effects of heat and other climate emergencies on the health of populations. He made significant investments into analytics, technology, and AI with the establishment of the NYC Center for Population Health Data Science.
Previously, Dr. Vasan served as president of Fountain House, a New York-based community mental health organization, where he expanded Fountain House’s national reach and profile, increased partnerships and fundraising significantly, and steered it through the COVID-19 pandemic with new telehealth and digital programs. Earlier in his career, he worked for more than a decade with health pioneers Dr. Paul Farmer at the nonprofit Partners in Health in Rwanda, Lesotho, and Boston, and Dr. Jim Yong Kim at the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS department, where he helped to launch the 3by5 Initiative, dramatically increasing access to treatment for AIDS in Africa.
Dr. Vasan has also served on the faculty of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons from 2014-2024. In 2025, he was a Ronay A. and Richard L. Menschel Fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He also serves as a health care advisor and kitchen cabinet member to the investment committee at Commonweal Ventures, an early-stage investment fund focused on civic technology and programs that address core domestic public policy priorities. He is an advisor to the Milken Institute and a member of the Board of Directors of the Child Mind Institute, OneMind, and the Mental Health Coalition, reflecting his passion and commitment to addressing the mental health crisis in the United States as a leading public health challenge.
Dr. Vasan received his BA in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles; his ScM in Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; his MD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and his PhD in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
In his role as Senior Fellow, Dr. Vasan will teach a course in Spring 2026 on “The Future of Health Leadership in Divided Times.” He will represent YSPH on regional, national, and international committees, and will provide advising and mentorship to YSPH students and faculty. He will also engage in research on public health policy, leveraging his expertise in public health policy, social welfare, and the integration of mental and physical health care.
In addition to his appointment at YSPH, Dr. Vasan will be an affiliated faculty member at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs.
“We are excited to welcome Dr. Vasan to our school and look forward to the contributions he will make to YSPH, the Yale community, and beyond,” Dean Megan L. Ranney, MD, MPH, said in announcing the appointment.