Dr. Leana Wen

Dr. Leana Wen is a practicing physician, healthcare executive, and one of America’s leading public health experts. She is a columnist for The Washington Post, where she writes a twice- weekly column on medicine and public health and anchors the Post newsletter, The Checkup with Dr. Wen. She is also a clinical associate professor at George Washington University, where she is a distinguished fellow of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity; a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; the host of HLTH’s The Beat Executive Video Series; and a frequently featured on-air commentator, including as a medical analyst for CNN and guest contributor for NPR, PBS and BBC.

Previously, she served as Baltimore's Health Commissioner, where she led the nation’s oldest continuously operating health department in the U.S. to fight the opioid epidemic, address disparities and mental health access, and improve maternal and child health. She is author of two critically-acclaimed books, "When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests" and "Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health."   Dr. Wen obtained her medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine and studied health policy at the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She completed her residency training in emergency medicine at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School.    A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Wen has received recognition as one of Governing's Public Officials of the Year, Modern Healthcare's Top 50 Physician-Executives, World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, and TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People. 

Dr. Wen lives with her husband and their two young children in Baltimore. In her free time, she loves cycling, trail running, and open water swimming.