PHILADELPHIA University of Pennsylvania alumna Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH (B.A. 75, M.D.79), Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), will deliver the address at the Perelman School of Medicines commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

We are delighted to have Dr. Lurie return to campus to speak before our graduates, said J. Larry Jameson, MD, PhD, Dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System. As a distinguished alumna of the Perelman School of Medicine, she is an ideal candidate to inspire our students to attain the level of achievement and honor that she has experienced in her own prominent career.

As the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Dr. Lurie serves as the Secretary's principal advisor on matters related to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. The ASPR also coordinates interagency activities among HHS, other Federal departments, agencies, and offices, and State and local officials responsible for emergency preparedness and the protection of the civilian population from acts of bioterrorism and other public health emergencies. The mission of her office is to lead the nation in preventing, responding to and recovering from the adverse health effects of public health emergencies and disasters.

Prior to that, Lurie was Senior Natural Scientist and the Paul O Neill Alcoa Professor of Health Policy at the RAND Corporation. There she directed RANDs public health and preparedness work as well as RANDs Center for Population Health and Health Disparities. She previously served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; in state government, as Medical Advisor to the Commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Health; and in academia, as Professor in the University of Minnesota Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Lurie has a long history in the health services research field, primarily in the areas of access to and quality of care, mental health, prevention, public health infrastructure, and preparedness and health disparities.

Lurie is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania and the Perelman School of Medicine, and completed her residency and MSPH at UCLA, where she was also a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar. She served as Senior Editor for the journal Health Services Research and as President of the Society of General Internal Medicine, as well as on multiple other national committees. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Perelman School of Medicines Distinguished Alumni Award (2009), and a member of the Institute of Medicine.

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Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $4.3 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community.

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Distinguished Penn Alumna and HHS Official Nicole Lurie, MD, MSPH, to Speak at the Perelman School of Medicine ...