Content created by Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH)
John M. Balbus, M.D., M.P.H.
Office of Climate Change and Health Equity Director
Dr. Balbus is the HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate Change and Health Equity and Director of the HHS Office of Climate Change and Health Equity. A physician and public health professional with 30 years of experience working on the health implications of climate change, Dr. Balbus has served as an HHS Principal to the U.S. Global Change Research Program since he joined the federal government in 2009. He also helped create and co-chair that organization’s working group on Climate Change and Human Health. Before coming over to the new Office, Dr. Balbus served as Senior Advisor for Public Health to the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Prior to joining NIEHS, Dr. Balbus was the Chief Health Scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund and an Associate Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington School of Public Health and Health Services. He received his MPH degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, his MD degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Harvard University. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2021.