| Office: | White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator |
| President: | Joe Biden |
| Deputy: | Lisa Barclay |
| Term Start: | April 5, 2022 |
| Term End: | June 30, 2023 |
| Preceded: | Jeff Zients |
| Successor: | Position abolished |
| Birth Date: | 31 December 1970 |
| Birth Place: | Madhubani, India |
| Education: | Columbia University (BA) Harvard University (MD, MPH) |
| Office2: | Dean, Brown University School of Public Health |
| Term Start2: | February 2020 |
| Predecessor2: | Bess Marcus |
Ashish Kumar Jha (born December 31, 1970) is an Indian-American general internist physician and academic who served as the White House COVID-19 response coordinator from 2022–2023. He has been Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health since 2020.[1] Prior to Brown, he was the K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, faculty director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, and a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group. Jha is recognized as one of the leading health policy scholars in the nation.[2] [3] Jha's role at Brown University focuses on improving the quality and cost of health care, and on the impact of public health policy.[3]
Ashish Kumar Jha was born in Pursaulia, Madhubani, Bihar, India, on December 31, 1970.[4] Both of Jha's parents worked as educators. His family moved to Toronto, Canada, in 1979 and to Morris County, New Jersey, US in 1984.[5]
Jha graduated from Boonton High School in Boonton, New Jersey, as the valedictorian of the class of 1988 and the editor in chief of the school's newspaper.[6] He attended Columbia University, where he studied pre-med and economics and was president of Earl Hall's student governing board. Jha graduated from Columbia in 1992 with a B.A. in economics.[7] [8]
Jha received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1997 and then trained as a resident in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He completed a Chief Residency year at UCSF. Between 2001 and 2002, he served as the Inaugural Under Secretary's Special Fellow for Quality and Safety in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Jha returned to Boston in 2002 to complete his fellowship in general medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
In 2004, Jha completed a Master of Public Health degree at the Harvard School of Public Health.[9]
Jha worked as the K.T. Li Professor of Global Health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Faculty Director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, as well as a Senior Advisor at Albright Stonebridge Group. On September 1, 2020, he became the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. He remains an adjunct professor of Global Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[10] At Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, his research focused on improving the quality of health care and addressing the high cost of health care in the United States.[11]
In mid-March 2020, Jha called for a two-week national quarantine across the United States to reduce the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] He argued that it takes up to two weeks for those already infected with the virus to begin showing symptoms; given the lack of COVID-19 testing in the U.S., a two-week quarantine would help public health better assess how widespread the disease is to better inform decision-making.[13] [14] He has also advocated for the need to vastly strengthen healthcare infrastructure and increase the manufacturing of personal protective equipment to keep healthcare workers safe. He has testified multiple times in front of Congress as an expert helping guide policymakers on how best to help the US navigate the pandemic.[15] [16]
Between March 2020 and May 2021, Jha was mentioned on cable and network news approximately 60,000 times.[17]
Jha serves on the National Advisory Council for COVID Collaborative.[18]
In March 2022, it was announced that Jha would succeed Jeffrey Zients as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator. Jha succeeded Zients on April 5, 2022.[19]
Jha took office as the third dean of the Brown University School of Public Health[20] in September 2020, following appointment in March that year.[21] During Jha's tenure and the concurrent COVID-19 pandemic, the school expanded its programs, physical footprint, and faculty.[22] [23]