Leana Wen

Leana Wen
Born	Wen Linyan 27 01, 1983
Birthplace	Shanghai, China
Nationality	American
Occupation	Physician, author, professor, columnist, television commentator
Employer	George Washington University, The Washington Post, Brookings Institution
Known for	Baltimore City Health Commissioner, President of Planned Parenthood, COVID-19 public health commentary
Education	California State University, Los Angeles (BS) Washington University in St. Louis (MD) Merton College, Oxford (MSc, MSc)
Children	2
Awards	Modern Healthcare 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives (2017)
Website	[[drleanawen.com drleanawen.com] Official site]

Leana Sheryle Wen (Template:Zh; born Wen Linyan; January 27, 1983) is an American emergency physician, public health professor, author, columnist, and television commentator. Born in Shanghai, China, she immigrated to the United States as a child and rose through academic and medical ranks at a rapid pace, becoming one of the youngest health commissioners in the history of a major American city when she was appointed to lead the Baltimore City Health Department in December 2014 at the age of 31. She later served as president of Planned Parenthood from November 2018 to July 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wen became a prominent public health communicator, serving as a medical analyst for CNN and testifying four times before the United States Congress. She currently serves as a public health professor at George Washington University, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a twice-weekly columnist for The Washington Post.

Early Life

Leana Wen was born on January 27, 1983, in Shanghai, China. Her family immigrated to the United States when she was a young child. She grew up in the Los Angeles area, where she demonstrated exceptional academic ability from an early age.

Wen enrolled at California State University, Los Angeles, where she completed her Bachelor of Science degree at the age of 18, becoming one of the youngest graduates in the university's history. Her early academic acceleration set the stage for a career that would be marked by precocious achievement across multiple fields, including medicine, public health policy, and public advocacy.

Education

After completing her undergraduate studies at California State University, Los Angeles, Wen pursued medical education at Washington University in St. Louis, where she earned her Doctor of Medicine degree. She then attended Merton College at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar candidate, where she earned two Master of Science degrees.

Wen completed her residency training in emergency medicine, which would form the clinical foundation for her subsequent career in public health administration and health policy advocacy. Her educational background, combining clinical medicine with graduate studies at Oxford, equipped her with both the medical expertise and policy perspective that would characterize her later work.

Career

Early Medical Career and Advocacy

Before entering public health administration, Wen practiced as an emergency medicine physician. During this period, she became an advocate for transparency in the doctor-patient relationship and patient engagement in healthcare. She served on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Advisory Panel on Patient Engagement, contributing to national conversations about how patients interact with the healthcare system.

Wen also served on the Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME), a federal advisory body that provides recommendations on physician workforce issues to the United States Department of Health and Human Services and Congress.

In January 2013, Wen co-authored a book and became a public voice on the topic of doctor-patient communication, arguing that physicians should be more forthcoming with patients and that patients need to take a more active role in their own healthcare. She also contributed to publications including The Huffington Post and Psychology Today on topics related to medicine and patient empowerment.

Her public speaking career also expanded during this period, as she delivered talks at venues and institutions across the United States on topics related to healthcare, patient rights, and public health policy.

Baltimore City Health Commissioner (2014–2018)

On December 5, 2014, Wen was appointed as the Commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department, succeeding Oxiris Barbot. At 31 years old, she was among the youngest health commissioners of a major American city at the time of her appointment. In an interview with NPR, Wen discussed her decision to leave clinical emergency medicine to lead Baltimore's health department, framing public health leadership as an opportunity to address the root causes of the health emergencies she had encountered in the emergency room.

During her tenure as health commissioner, Wen made the opioid epidemic one of her central priorities. Baltimore, like many American cities, was experiencing a severe crisis of opioid addiction and overdose deaths. Wen implemented a standing order that allowed all Baltimore residents to obtain naloxone (marketed as Narcan), the opioid overdose reversal drug, without an individual prescription. Her goal was to make the antidote as widely available as possible, and she publicly advocated for naloxone to be placed in every home medicine cabinet alongside other first-aid supplies.

Wen also pushed for federal regulatory action on opioid prescribing. In February 2016, she was among public health officials who urged the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to add black box warnings about the dangers of using opioids and benzodiazepines together, a combination associated with a significantly elevated risk of overdose death. She testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on the opioid epidemic, presenting her experiences and initiatives from Baltimore as a model for addressing the crisis at the national level.

Under Wen's leadership, the Baltimore City Health Department expanded its scope of public health initiatives, addressing issues including lead poisoning prevention, behavioral health, and maternal and child health. Her tenure coincided with significant social upheaval in Baltimore, including the civil unrest following the death of Freddie Gray in 2015, during which the health department played a role in community response and crisis management.

Wen served as health commissioner until October 12, 2018, when she departed to assume leadership of Planned Parenthood. She was succeeded on an interim basis by Mary Beth Haller.

President of Planned Parenthood (2018–2019)

On November 12, 2018, Wen became the president of Planned Parenthood, succeeding Cecile Richards, who had led the organization for over a decade. Wen was the first physician to lead Planned Parenthood in approximately fifty years, and her appointment was seen as a shift toward emphasizing the organization's healthcare mission.

Wen's tenure at Planned Parenthood was brief and ended amid reports of disagreements with the organization's board of directors over strategic direction. She departed the position on July 16, 2019, after approximately eight months. Wen was succeeded by Alexis McGill Johnson, who initially served in an acting capacity. The circumstances of Wen's departure generated considerable media attention, with differing accounts emerging regarding the reasons for the leadership change. Wen stated that she had been dismissed over philosophical differences about the organization's direction, while the board cited other concerns.

COVID-19 Pandemic Commentary

During the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in early 2020, Wen became one of the most visible public health commentators in American media. She served as a medical analyst for CNN, appearing frequently on the network's programs to discuss pandemic developments, public health policy, vaccination strategies, and mitigation measures.

Wen was invited to testify before Congress four times during the pandemic, including two appearances before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. Her congressional testimony addressed topics including the federal pandemic response, vaccination policy, and strategies for mitigating the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

As the pandemic evolved, Wen's public positions on certain issues, including masking, school closures, and the balance between public health restrictions and individual freedoms, generated both support and criticism. Some public health advocates criticized her for positions they viewed as insufficiently cautious, particularly regarding the pace of reopening and the easing of mitigation measures. Wen defended her approach as being guided by evolving scientific evidence and the recognition that public health policy must weigh multiple considerations, including the social and economic costs of prolonged restrictions.

She also provided public commentary during the 2022 mpox outbreak, offering medical analysis and public health guidance through her media platforms.

Academic and Media Career

Wen holds a position as a professor of public health at George Washington University, where she teaches and conducts work on health policy and public health practice. She also serves as a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a prominent policy research organization based in Washington, D.C.

As a columnist for The Washington Post, Wen writes a twice-weekly opinion column covering medicine and public health topics. Her columns have addressed a wide range of subjects, including vaccine policy, cancer screening, mental health treatment, long-term care, and emerging health trends. Recent columns have examined topics such as evidence-based adult vaccine recommendations, personalized breast cancer screening approaches, the potential cognitive benefits of coffee consumption, the risks of psychedelic microdosing, and the social benefits of long-term care facilities.

Wen has continued her role as a public health commentator on radio, appearing on programs such as WYPR's Midday to discuss health topics including medication safety, CDC policy changes, and vaccine recommendations.

She has also participated in high-profile international discussion forums, including TIME's TIME100 Talks series, where she has appeared alongside other global leaders to discuss public health solutions and challenges.

Affiliations and Board Service

Throughout her career, Wen has served on multiple advisory boards and committees. These have included the PCORI Advisory Panel on Patient Engagement and the federal Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME). She has also been affiliated with the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Personal Life

Wen has two children. She resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, where she is based for her academic and media work. Details about her personal life beyond her professional activities remain largely private.

Wen was born in Shanghai, China, and her Chinese name is Wen Linyan (温麟衍). She immigrated to the United States as a child with her family and grew up in the Los Angeles area before pursuing her academic and medical career on the East Coast and in the United Kingdom.

Recognition

In 2016, Wen delivered the commencement address at the Notre Dame of Maryland University, reflecting her growing profile as a public health leader and advocate.

In 2017, Modern Healthcare named Wen to its list of the 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives, recognizing her impact on healthcare policy and practice through her leadership of the Baltimore City Health Department and her national advocacy on the opioid epidemic and other public health issues.

Her TED talk and public speaking engagements have garnered significant attention, contributing to her profile as a public health communicator. She has been featured on the TIME100 Talks platform and has testified multiple times before Congress, further establishing her as a prominent voice in American public health discourse.

Her Washington Post column and regular CNN appearances have made her one of the most recognizable public health commentators in American media, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Legacy

Wen's career has spanned the intersection of clinical medicine, public health administration, media commentary, and policy advocacy. Her work as Baltimore's health commissioner, particularly her initiatives to combat the opioid epidemic through widespread naloxone distribution, contributed to a broader national movement toward harm reduction strategies. The standing order she issued making naloxone available without an individual prescription was among the first such measures implemented in a major American city and served as a model for similar programs elsewhere.

Her brief but notable tenure at Planned Parenthood highlighted tensions within the organization regarding its strategic direction and the balance between its healthcare services and its role in political advocacy. Her departure underscored the challenges faced by leaders of organizations that operate at the intersection of healthcare and politically contested terrain.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wen's role as a public health communicator placed her at the center of national debates about pandemic policy, individual liberty, and the role of expertise in democratic governance. Her willingness to adjust her public health recommendations in response to evolving evidence, while generating criticism from some quarters, also reflected the broader challenges faced by public health communicators during a rapidly changing crisis.

As a Chinese-American immigrant who rose to positions of influence in American medicine and public health, Wen's career trajectory has also been noted in the context of representation in healthcare leadership. Her continued work as a professor, columnist, and policy fellow ensures her ongoing participation in national conversations about health policy and public health practice.