Commissioner of Massachusetts Department of Public Health to Deliver Sargent Convocation Address

2019 Commencement Speaker – Monica Bharel MD, MPH

Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health will deliver the 2019 Sargent College convocation address. Bharel will speak at BU’s Agganis Arena on Sunday, May 19 to more than 3,000 guests and approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate students earning degrees in health disciplines including health science, human physiology, nutrition, athletic training, physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy.

Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) since 2015, Dr. Monica Bharel serves as the Commonwealth’s chief physician. She helps lead the state’s aggressive response to the opioid crisis and is dedicated to reducing health disparities and developing data-driven, evidence-based solutions for keeping people healthy. Dr. Bharel has been an advocate for effective health policies including raising the age for tobacco and e-cigarette sales to 21 and passing new regulations for testing blood lead levels in young children. She has led the transformation of community health investments and spearheaded creation of the Public Health Data Warehouse, a unique state-of-the-art tool involving multiple linked data sets across state government which has proven invaluable in helping combat the opioid epidemic.

Dr. Bharel has a long and proven history in healthcare, education, and public health. She practiced general internal medicine for more than 20 years at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Medical Center, neighborhood health centers, nonprofit organizations, and the Veterans Administration. She served on the faculty of Boston University Medical School, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health, and has been recognized for her passionate dedication to underserved and vulnerable populations. Prior to joining DPH, she served as the Chief Medical Officer of Boston Health Care for the Homeless, the largest nonprofit organization for homeless individuals in the country.

Under Dr. Bharel’s leadership, the DPH was awarded national accreditation by the Public Health Accreditation Board and, in 2017, Massachusetts was named the healthiest state in the nation by America’s Health Rankings Annual Report which cited among other measures, the state’s low prevalence of obesity and high vaccination rates.

Dr. Bharel received her Master of Public Health through the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy. She earned her medical degree from Boston University School of Medicine and completed a residency and chief residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital/Boston Medical Center.

The BU Sargent College Convocation will be followed by the All University Commencement at 1 p.m. For more information about graduation activities at Boston University, please visit our commencement page.