Who Is Manisha Juthani? First Indian-American To Become Connecticut's Public Health Commissioner

Who is Manisha Juthani: Connecticut’s infectious diseases physician, Dr Manisha Juthani is all set to lead the state's efforts on COVID-19, health equity, disparities and access to healthcare.

The Indian-American, who is a physician at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, has been selected to be a commissioner of the state’s public health department, the Governor, Ned Lamont, announced on July 26. She will be taking over the position from September 20, 2021. The first Indian-American ever to hold that post, Juthani will replace Dr Deidre Gifford who has been filing the post as head of the state’s public health agency.

According to a press statement on Monday, the Governor stressed that Juthani’s background in infectious diseases will be a tremendous benefit to the people of the state as they continue to respond to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. He believes the Indian-American will strengthen the vaccination efforts in Connecticut.

Who is Manisha Juthani?

Juthani specialises in the diagnosis, management and prevention of infections in older adults. Her most recent area of work is at the interface of infectious diseases and palliative care, the press release from the Governor noted.

She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and attended the Cornell University Medical College. Juthani completed residency training at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Campus and was a chief resident at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She joined Yale School of Medicine in 2002 for infectious diseases fellowship training, making her way to being a permanent faculty member in 2006. Six years later, she assumed the role of infectious diseases fellowship program director in 2012, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Taking to Twitter after the announcement, the Indian-American extended thank you note to the Governor and Gifford saying that she is grateful to Lamont for leading the citizens through this pandemic. She also praised the civil servants at the Connecticut Department of Public Health for their endless effort.  She said she is looking forward to continuing the work related to coronavirus, mental health, health equity and health disparities. The doctor was quoted as saying by CT Mirror that as the first Indian-American commissioner in the state of Connecticut, she will take pride to showcase the state the path that any immigrant can take coming to the state.

I am so honored to serve as the next Commissioner of @CTDPH. Advocating for public health during this pandemic and beyond is the opportunity of a lifetime. I look forward to serving the citizens of CT. https://t.co/6LD04P5iUW

— Manisha Juthani, MD, FIDSA, FSHEA, FACP (@DrJuthani) July 27, 2021

Feature Image Credit: Yale.edu