2016 MD, MD/PhD Commencement Speaker Announced

Dean Karen Antman announced that Mary Travis Bassett, MD, MPH will be the  guest speaker at the MD, MD/PhD commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 12. Bassett serves as  Commissioner, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Bassett has more than 30 years of experience in public health, dedicating her career to advancing health equity. She has served as the Commissioner since 2014.

 Her varied experience includes serving on the medical faculty at the University of Zimbabwe for 17 years developing a range of AIDS prevention interventions. She later she served as the associate director of Health Equity at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Southern Africa Office, overseeing it Africa AIDS portfolio. Since 2009 Dr. Bassett has served at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation as program director for the African Health Initiative and more recently has led the Child Well-being Program.

Bassett received her MD from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, completed her residency at Harlem Hospital Center, and holds a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Washington. She served for many years as an associate editor of the American Journal of Public Health.