Announcing the Chair of the Department of Medicine, Vicki Jackson, MD, MPH – Starting in September
We are pleased to share that Vicki Jackson, MD, MPH, has been named Chief and Chair of the Department of Medicine at Boston Medical Center and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, beginning Sept. 2, 2025.
Dr. Jackson joins us from Massachusetts General Hospital, where she has served with distinction for more than two decades. She currently serves as the Blum Family Endowed Chair in Palliative Care and the Chief of the Division of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Jackson is also a Professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Co-Director of the Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care, and the founding Director for the Harvard Palliative Medicine Fellowship.
A nationally recognized leader in palliative care, Dr. Jackson is a co-investigator and mentor on numerous studies funded through the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute investigating the effect of early, integrated palliative care for patients with advanced cancer. In 2019, she received Harvard Medical School’s prestigious A. Clifford Barger mentoring award. She is the co-author of the book “Living with Cancer: A step-by-step guide to coping medically and emotionally with a serious diagnosis” and “What’s in the syringe? Principles of early Integrated Palliative Care.” Nationally, Dr. Jackson serves as the Immediate Past President for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Dr. Jackson completed her residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Cambridge Hospital. She received training in research methods through the Harvard general medicine fellowship and completed a master’s in public health at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She also completed training in palliative care at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
As a compassionate clinician and a visionary leader, Dr. Jackson brings a patient-centered approach, a strong academic foundation, strategic insight, and a deep personal commitment to equitable care that will greatly benefit the Department of Medicine and the broader BMC and BU communities.
We would like to thank the search committee, headed by David Henderson, MD, Chief and Chair of Psychiatry, for their thoughtful leadership throughout the selection process. We are also grateful to Sushrut Waikar, MD, for leading the Department of Medicine as interim Chief and Chair while continuing in his role as Section Chief of Nephrology.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Jackson to Boston Medical Center and BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine later this year.