Céline Gounder

Céline Gounder
Gounder in August 2018
Member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board
In office
November 2020 – January 2021
President-ElectJoe Biden
Co-chairsDavid A. Kessler
Vivek Murthy
Marcella Nunez-Smith
Personal details
Born
Céline R. Gounder

(1977-04-22) April 22, 1977 (age 47)
United States
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2001; died 2022)​
EducationPrinceton University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Washington
OccupationPhysician, medical journalist
Websitecelinegounder.com

Céline R. Gounder (born April 22, 1977) is an American physician and medical journalist who specializes in infectious diseases and global health. She was a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board transition team of then-incoming U.S. president Joe Biden.[1] In 2022, she joined the Kaiser Family Foundation as senior fellow and editor-at-large for public health at Kaiser Health News.[2]

Early life

Céline R. Gounder was born in the U.S. on April 22, 1977,[3] the daughter of a French mother, Nicole Pantanelli, from Normandy and Raj Natarajan Gounder, a Tamil-Indian father from Perumpalayam near Erode.[4][5][6] At age 16, she began attending Princeton University, and graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in molecular biology.[2][7] In 2000, she received a Master of Science degree in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with her thesis "Field evaluation of a rapid immunochromatographic test for tuberculosis".[3] At the University of Washington School of Medicine, she earned a Doctor of Medicine degree in 2004.[7][8] While in medical school, she co-founded the International Health Group, which advocates for doctors training to serve disadvantaged people around the world.[8][9] She completed her residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.[8]

Career

Gounder's first position was as a post-doctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she researched TB and HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and served as Director for Delivery in the Consortium to Respond Effectively to the AIDS/TB Epidemic, which was funded by the Gates Foundation.[7][8] She then joined the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene working on control of TB in the city.[7][8]

Starting in 2018, Gounder practiced medicine part-time while addressing her long time concerns with health issues as a medical journalist.[8] She was on the editorial advisory board of TEDMED[10] and has published articles about infectious disease and other medical topics in media including The New Yorker and The Atlantic, and has appeared on TV news and talk shows.[8]

In 2017, Gounder founded Just Human Productions, a non-profit media organization that uses storytelling in an effort to impact public health.[11] Gounder produced the podcast American Diagnosis, focusing on diverse health topics. With the rise of COVID-19, she created the podcast Epidemic, which she cohosted with Biden-advisor Ron Klain.[2]

On November 9, 2020, Gounder was named as a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board of U.S. president-elect Joe Biden.[12]

As of 2021, Gounder is also an assistant professor at the NYU medical school.[13]

Recognition

While pursuing her master's degree at Johns Hopkins, Gounder was inducted into the Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society in 2000.[14] In 2004 when she graduated from University of Washington School of Medicine, she was awarded the James W. Haviland Award for "outstanding clinical competence and for unusual promise as a leader of medicine in the future".[15] In 2010, she was awarded the W. Leight Thompson, MD Excellence in Research Award at Johns Hopkins.[16] Also that year, she was the recipient of the Arthur M. Dannenberg, Jr. Award at Johns Hopkins, and was an Ashoka Changemaker Finalist.[17]

In 2017, Gounder was listed in People Magazine's 25 Women Changing the World in 2017 for her contributions to health care.[18]

Gounder was elected a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 2016 and elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2023.[19][20]

Personal life

Gounder was married to sports journalist Grant Wahl from 2001 until his sudden death in 2022.[21] They lived with their two dogs in New York City.[22]

References

  1. ^ Eric Levenson (November 9, 2020). "Here's who's on President-elect Biden's newly formed Transition Covid-19 Advisory Board". CNN. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Hobson, Katherine (August 30, 2022). "The Doctor Is On". Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton University. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Gounder, Celine (2000). Field evaluation of a rapid immunochromatographic test for tuberculosis (Sc. M. thesis). Johns Hopkins University. OCLC 44388644.
  4. ^ "Q&A: Dr. Celine Gounder '97 on the Opioid Epidemic, Ebola, and More". Princeton Alumni Weekly. June 4, 2018. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  5. ^ Gawande, Atul (November 10, 2020). "3 WITH INDIAN ROOTS IN BIDEN'S COVID TASK FORCE". Retrieved December 3, 2020 – via PressReader.
  6. ^ "Raj Natarajan Gounder - Obituary". Flintoff's Funeral Home. January 20, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Gounder, Celine. "Celine Gounder, MD, ScM, FIDSA". LinkedIn. LinkedIn Corporation. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g "Real Time Impact on Global Health". UW Medicine. UW School of Medicine. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  9. ^ "About the UW School of Medicine International Health Group". University of Washington. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  10. ^ "TEDMED's Editorial Advisory Board". TEDMED. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  11. ^ "'Racing Toward Justice': In conversation with Dr. Celine Gounder on Feb. 15". University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  12. ^ Mucha, Sarah (November 9, 2020). "Biden transition team announces coronavirus advisers, including whistleblower Rick Bright". CNN. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  13. ^ "Celine R. Gounder". med.nyu.edu.
  14. ^ "2000 Inductees". Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Johns Hopkins University. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  15. ^ "Medical School graduates Honored with Student Awards". Online News UW School of Medicine. University of Washington School of Medicine. Archived from the original on September 11, 2005. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  16. ^ "ACGME Former Fellows". Johns Hopkins Medicine. The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Health System. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  17. ^ "Dr. Celine Gounder - Infectious Disease". U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News & World Report L.P. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  18. ^ People Staff. "Meet the 25 Women Changing the World in 2017". People. Time Inc. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  19. ^ "IDSA News". Infectious Disease Society of America. July–August 2016. Archived from the original on March 10, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  20. ^ "National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members". National Academy of Medicine. October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  21. ^ Schwartz, Jared (December 10, 2022). "US soccer journalist Grant Wahl dies while covering World Cup in Qatar".
  22. ^ "Dr. Celine Gounder". www.jeffpearlman.com. February 27, 2018. Archived from the original on February 25, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.