Ben Weston | |
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Born | |
Academic background | |
Education | BA, Biology, 2005, Lawrence University MPH, 2010, MD, 2011, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Medical College of Wisconsin |
Benjamin Weston is an American physician. While serving as an associate professor of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin,Weston is also the Director of medical services for the Office of Emergency Management and the Chief Health Policy Advisor for Milwaukee County. Weston's research interests include prehospital care,resuscitation,health equity,and public health surveillance.
Weston was raised in Milwaukee where his first job was working concessions at Uihlein Soccer Park. [1] He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in biology at Lawrence University in 2005. [2] During his undergraduate studies,Weston organized an abs class that met three times a week in order to combat obesity. [3] He also worked in various residence hall leadership positions and chaired the Lawrence University Community Council's Judicial Board. [2]
Upon graduating with his baccalaureate degree,Weston simultaneously earned his medical degree and master of public health from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. [4] He also co-founded the Healthy Classrooms Foundation to "bring public health to the public" in 2008. [5] Weston then completed his emergency medicine residency at Hennepin County Medical Center and completed his Emergency Medical Services Fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). [4]
During the COVID-19 pandemic,Weston promoted the vaccine and combated COVID-19 misinformation. [6] He helped create the county's online COVID-19 dashboard to track cases,hospitalizations,deaths,and other data to inform the public and shape decision-making. [7] As a result of his advocacy,Weston was selected as a member of the Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 2021 class. [8] In August 2021,Weston was appointed by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley as Milwaukee County's inaugural Chief Health Policy Advisor. When speaking of the promotion,Crowley stated that Weston's expertise will help "inform strategies and programs that further advance our health and equity goals and bring us closer to our vision of being the healthiest county in the state." [9] He was later named one of three recipients of the 2021 Milwaukee Business Journal's Health Care Champion. [10] In August 2022,Weston was selected by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) to serve as the NAM Fellow to Advance State Health Policy. [11]
Weston and his wife Michelle,a fellow physician,have three children together. [2]
The National Academy of Medicine (NAM),known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015,is an American nonprofit,non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences,Engineering,and Medicine,along with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS),National Academy of Engineering (NAE),and the National Research Council (NRC).
The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is a private medical school,pharmacy school,and graduate school of sciences in Milwaukee,Wisconsin. The school was established in 1893 and is the largest research center in eastern Wisconsin. It is associated with Froedtert Hospital as well as Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and houses the Center for Infectious Disease Research There are two additional campuses,one in Green Bay and one in Wausau.
Advocate Aurora Health (AAH) is a non-profit health care system with dual headquarters located in Milwaukee,Wisconsin,and Downers Grove,Illinois. As of 2021,the AAH system has 26 hospitals and more than 500 sites of care,with 75,000 employees,including 10,000 employed physicians. The health system formed as a result of a merger between Illinois-based Advocate Health Care and Wisconsin-based Aurora Health Care. AAH is a teaching affiliate of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Christopher J. Larson is an American Democratic politician and a member of the Wisconsin Senate,representing southeast Milwaukee County since 2011. He was Senate minority leader from 2013 through 2014,and currently serves as Senate Democratic caucus chair.
Ben Redmond Lawton was an American physician,general and thoracic surgeon,healthcare-reformer,educator,and president of the University of Wisconsin's board of regents from 1984 to 1986.
Leana Sheryle Wen is an American physician,author,professor,speaker,consultant,newspaper columnist and television commentator. She is former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore and former president of Planned Parenthood. She has written two books based on her experiences as a medical professional.
David C. Crowley is an American politician and the 7th County Executive of Milwaukee County,Wisconsin. He is the first African American to serve as the county's top official,and,at age 33,also the youngest. He previously represented Milwaukee as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly,serving from January 2017 until June 2020.
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Ashish Kumar Jha 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. 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. Jha's role at Brown University focuses on improving the quality and cost of health care,and on the impact of public health policy.
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The global COVID-19 pandemic struck the U.S. state of Wisconsin in early February 2020. Although Wisconsin has to date experienced 144 deaths per 100,000 residents,significantly fewer than the US national average of 196 deaths,COVID-19 was one of the three leading causes of death in Wisconsin in 2020. On August 25,2021,Wisconsin public health authorities reported 7 day averages of 1,417 new cases and 236 probable cases per day,an increase of greater than 15 fold since late June 2021. This brings the cumulative total of COVID-19 cases in Wisconsin to 651,338. The state's death toll is 7,558,with 30 new deaths over the previous 7 days. As of August 25,2021,12.41% of Wisconsin's residents have been positively diagnosed with COVID-19,the 20th highest per-capita case rate among all US states. January 16's 128 COVID-19 deaths set a new single day record for Wisconsin.
The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) is a British Government body that advises central government in emergencies. It is usually chaired by the United Kingdom's Chief Scientific Adviser. Specialists from academia and industry,along with experts from within government,make up the participation,which will vary depending on the emergency. SAGE gained public prominence for its role in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
The National Public Health Emergency Team for COVID-19 (NPHET) was a National Public Health Emergency Team within Ireland's Department of Health that oversaw and provided national direction,support,guidance and expert advice on developing and implementing a strategy to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Ireland.
Sara H. Cody is an American physician,epidemiologist and public health official who serves as the health officer and also as the public health director of Santa Clara County,California. At the time of the 2020 COVID-19 outbreak,she became a regular presence in the media to communicate COVID-19 news and policy.
Dave Ashok Chokshi is an American physician and former public health official who served as the 43rd health commissioner of New York City. He was the first health commissioner of Asian descent. Chokshi previously served as the inaugural chief population health officer for NYC Health + Hospitals and as a White House fellow in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Currently he is a practicing physician at Bellevue Hospital and the inaugural Sternberg Family Professor of Leadership at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership,part of the City College of New York.
Pierre Kory is an American critical care physician who gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic for advocating widespread off-label use of certain drugs as treatments for COVID-19,as president and co-founder of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). Kory testified twice to the U.S. Senate regarding COVID-19. During his testimony in December 2020,Kory erroneously claimed that the antiparasitic medication ivermectin was a "wonder drug" with "miraculous effectiveness" against COVID-19.
Kieran Michael Moore is a Canadian physician and public servant who serves as the current chief medical officer of health of Ontario. Prior to his appointment,he served as the medical officer of health for Kingston,Frontenac,Lennox and Addington from 2017 to 2021.
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