Mary Bassett
Commissioner of the
New York State Department of Health
In office
December 1, 2021 – December 31, 2022
GovernorKathy Hochul
Preceded byHoward Zucker
Succeeded byJames V. McDonald
Commissioner of the
New York City Department of Health
In office
January 16, 2014 – August 31, 2018
MayorBill de Blasio
Preceded byThomas Farley
Succeeded byOxiris Barbot
Personal details
Born (1952-11-12) November 12, 1952
Residence(s)Albany, New York, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Columbia University (MD)
University of Washington (MPH)
AwardsCalderone Prize (2016)

Mary Travis Bassett is an American physician and public health researcher who was the 17th Health Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health, being appointed to the position by Governor Kathy Hochul on September 29, 2021, until December 31, 2022.[1][2] From 2014 to 2018, she was the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Bassett is the Director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and the FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health.[3] She is also an associate professor of clinical epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.[4]

Early life and education

Bassett grew up in a Jewish family in New York City. Her parents were Dr. Emmett W. Bassett, a chemist with a PhD in dairy technology from the Tuskegee Institute and the first African American investigator in the field, and Priscilla Bassett, a librarian and activist.[5] Bassett identifies as being mixed race.[6] She received her B.A. in history and science from Harvard University in 1974, her M.D. from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1979, and her MPH in Health Services (Health Policy Research) from the University of Washington in 1985.[7][8][9] She completed her medical residency at Harlem Hospital Center.[10]

Career

Bassett lived in Zimbabwe from 1985 to 2002, during which time she served on the medical faculty of the University of Zimbabwe. She was appointed deputy commissioner of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 2002.[8] Beginning in 2009, she served as the program director for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's African Health Initiative.[8]

In January 2014, she was appointed by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio to serve as New York City Health Commissioner. Since being appointed to this position, which was the largest she had ever held,[11] she helped lead the city's response to the Ebola virus cases in the United States that were first reported in the fall of 2014.[12][13] She also addressed New Yorkers regarding outbreaks of Legionnaire's disease in their city.[14] In February 2015, she wrote a perspective piece in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding the adverse health effects of racial discrimination against African Americans.[12]

In November 2015, Bassett gave a TEDMED talk, "Why your doctor should care about social justice." In this talk, Bassett spoke about witnessing the AIDS epidemic firsthand in Zimbabwe and setting up a clinic to treat and educate people about the virus. However, Bassett said she regrets not speaking out against structural inequities during her time in Zimbabwe. Bassett said these same structural problems exist in the United States today, and as New York City's Health Commissioner, she would use every chance she had to rally support for health equity and speak out against racism.[15]

In October 2016, Bassett was awarded the Frank A. Calderone Prize by the Mailman School of Public Health. This prize was established in 1986, and is the most prestigious honor in the field of public health in the United States.[16]

In 2017, Bassett was elected to become a member of the National Academy of Medicine.[17]

She was succeeded as New York City Health Commissioner by Oxiris Barbot in 2018.

Select publications

  • Zinzi D Bailey; Nancy Krieger; Madina Agénor; Jasmine Graves; Natalia Linos; Mary T Bassett (1 April 2017). "Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: evidence and interventions". The Lancet. 389 (10077): 1453–1463. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30569-X. ISSN 0140-6736. PMID 28402827. Wikidata Q39237652.
  • Mary Travis Bassett; Jarvis T Chen; Nancy Krieger (20 October 2020). "Variation in racial/ethnic disparities in COVID-19 mortality by age in the United States: A cross-sectional study". PLOS MEDICINE. 17 (10): e1003402. doi:10.1371/JOURNAL.PMED.1003402. ISSN 1549-1277. PMC 7575091. PMID 33079941. Wikidata Q100739852.
  • Cowger, Tori L.; Murray, Eleanor J.; Clarke, Jaylen; Bassett, Mary T.; Ojikutu, Bisola O.; Sánchez, Sarimer M.; Linos, Natalia; Hall, Kathryn T. (2022-11-24). "Lifting Universal Masking in Schools — Covid-19 Incidence among Students and Staff". New England Journal of Medicine. 387 (21): 1935–1946. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2211029. ISSN 0028-4793. PMC 9743802. PMID 36351262.

References

  1. ↑ "Governor Hochul Appoints Dr. Mary T. Bassett as Commissioner of the Department of Health". Governor Kathy Hochul. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "New York Health Commissioner Mary Bassett to resign". spectrumlocalnews.com. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  3. ↑ "Mary Travis Bassett's Faculty Website". Harvard School of Public Health. 5 January 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  4. ↑ "Mailman's Dr. Mary Bassett Named NYC Health Commissioner". Mailman School of Public Health. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Wortsman, Peter (2015-12-21). "Alumni Profile: Mary T. Bassett'79". Columbia Medicine Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  6. ↑ Alcorn, Ted (2023-02-28). "Harlem to Harare | Think Global Health". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  7. ↑ "Mary Bassett | Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health". www.mailman.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  8. 1 2 3 "Mary Travis Bassett Biography". NYC.gov. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Mary Bassett". Columbia University. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Mary T. Bassett". NYC Health + Hospitals (in Maltese). Retrieved 2017-11-17.
  11. ↑ Grynbaum, Michael (26 October 2014). "In New York, Bringing a Comforting Message During a Chaotic Time". New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  12. 1 2 Firger, Jessica (23 February 2015). "Dr. Mary Bassett: Why #BlackLivesMatter to public health". CBS News. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  13. ↑ Sifferlin, Alexandra (26 October 2014). "Meet the Woman Leading NYC's Ebola Fight". Time. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  14. ↑ Criss, Doug (30 July 2015). "Two dead in Legionnaires' disease outbreak in New York". CNN. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Why your doctor should care about social justice". TEDMED. November 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  16. ↑ "Columbia Mailman School Awards Public Health Prize to New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett". Mailman School of Public Health. 25 October 2016. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  17. ↑ "Member – National Academy of Medicine". National Academy of Medicine. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  • Biography on New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene website
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