Susan Kansagra

Susan Kansagra, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, is a skilled physician leader with two decades of experience supporting health at the state, local, and national levels. She has extensive experience in development and implementation of public health programs and policies, bringing together cross-sector partners to address health challenges in innovative ways, and communicating on a wide range of public health topics.

Most recently, Kansagra served as Assistant Secretary and State Health Officer for NC where she led the Division of Public Health overseeing $1 billion in funding and 1,000 staff. While with NC, she helped lead the state's COVID-19 pandemic response coordinating with health care systems around the state on vaccine, testing, treatment and medical surge response. Additionally, she spearheaded the development of NC’s Opioid Action Plan, bringing together various stakeholders around the state to align on a coordinated set of metrics and actions to address substance use and opioid overdose. Kansagra’s previous roles include serving as the Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Health Department, where she led internationally recognized public health policies and programs aimed at reducing chronic disease, as well as Director of Population Health at NYC Health + Hospitals, where she implemented clinical quality improvement initiatives for the country’s largest public health care system. She is a two-time recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence for her work convening stakeholders to combat drug overdose and for leading NC’s COVID-19 response efforts.

Kansagra is an appointed member of the CDC Community Preventive Services Task Force and has served on multiple boards, including as Board President of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors and was previously on the Executive Board of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). She completed her undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill, her medical and business degrees at Duke University, and internal medicine training at Massachusetts General Hospital.