Former NYC Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett To Deliver Commencement Address For SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
May 17, 2019
BROOKLYN, NY — SUNY Downstate Medical Center announced today that former New York City Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) Commissioner Mary T. Bassett, M.D., MPH,
will keynote the Commencement ceremony at 3:30 pm on Tuesday, May 21 at Carnegie Hall.
Dr. Bassett served four years as NYC Health Commissioner (2014-2018), where she was
a strong advocate for equity in healthcare, and for highlighting the significant relationship
between health outcomes and social justice. Currently the Director of the Harvard
T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and
Human Rights, Dr. Bassett also led New York City’s response to the Ebola outbreak.
With a career dedicated to health disparities and social justice, Dr. Bassett personifies
the practice of our institutional mission—to improve our community, our city, and
beyond,” said SUNY Downstate president Wayne J. Riley, M.D. “We are honored to have Dr. Bassett address our graduates as they prepare to embark
on careers that impact medical, research, and healthcare. Dr. Bassett has shown us
time and again how healthcare is so much more than healing the ill; but that it also
includes the fight to change systems that allow the health of our communities to continually
fail.”
Dr. Bassett, who will also receive an honorary Doctor of Science for her work on behalf
of New York City’s vulnerable populations, will address more than 400 graduates, families,
and friends of SUNY Downstate’s College of Medicine, School of Graduate Studies, and
the School of Public Health. Commencement ceremonies for SUNY Downstate’s College
of Nursing and the College for Health-Related Professions will take place at 7:30
pm at Carnegie Hall.
Originally from New York City, Dr. Bassett lived in Zimbabwe for nearly 20 years and
was a member of the medical faculty at the University of Zimbabwe. When she returned
to the United States, she was the program director for the African Health Initiative
and the Child Well-being Program at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. She received
her B.A. in History and Science from Harvard University and her M.D. from Columbia
University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Bassett completed her medical
residency at Harlem Hospital Center and has a master’s degree in Public Health from
the University of Washington, where she was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar.
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Contact: Dawn S. Walker
917.439.9666 | 347.533.2071
dawn.walker@downstate.edu
About SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University
SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is the borough's only academic medical center for health education, research, and patient care. It is a 342-bed facility serving the healthcare needs of New York City and Brooklyn's 2.6 million residents. University Hospital of Brooklyn (UHB) is Downstate's teaching hospital, backed by an outstanding medical school's expertise and world-class academic center research facilities. More than 800 physicians, representing 53 specialties and subspecialties—many of them ranked as tops in their fields—comprise Downstate's staff.
In addition to high-risk neonatal and infant services, pediatric nephrology, and dialysis (kidney diseases)—and offering the only kidney transplantation program in Brooklyn, among many other distinctive programs—Downstate also sponsors a major learning center for young children with developmental disorders and disabilities. In addition to UHB, Downstate comprises a College of Medicine, College of Nursing, School of Health Professions, a School of Graduate Studies, a School of Public Health, and a multifaceted biotechnology initiative, including the Downstate Biotechnology Incubator and BioBAT for early-stage and more mature companies, respectively. For more information, visit www.downstate.edu or follow us on Twitter at @sunydownstate.