This article was first published on the Boston Business Journal’s website.
In a spare moment while caring for patients at Massachusetts General Hospital, Rochelle Walensky emailed two Yale researchers she knew to say the human toll of the pandemic had become hard to bear.
As chief of the division of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and a Harvard Medical School professor, Walensky spent her time studying public policy for the treatment of AIDS and HIV. But months into the pandemic, coronavirus had become all-consuming. Now she was having to choose who should get the limited supply of the experimental Covid treatment remdesivir, and who should get a ventilator.
“I remember clearly how despairing and broken-hearted she was about it,” said A. David Paltiel, a professor of health policy and management and a member of the public-health modeling unit at Yale School of Public Health, who has written over 80 research papers with Walensky. “This clear-headed thinker — the humanity of it was just overwhelming. She didn’t want to be playing God.”
To more than a half-dozen colleagues and collaborators who spoke to the Business Journal on Monday, it was no surprise that Walensky would be tapped by President-elect Joe Biden to become director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, leading the nation’s top health protection agency as it spearheads the pandemic response.
Many called the decision “inspired,” and were effusive in their praise of her as a colleague and a person. Paltiel said his wife cried when he told her of Walensky’s appointment, saying she finally felt it was all going to be ok.
Walensky has played a role in nearly every level of society as it deals with coronavirus, from her role on Gov. Baker’s Covid-19 Response Command Center Advisory Board, to her work organizing the chiefs of infectious disease in Boston to coordinate a city-wide hospital Covid response. She has developed coronavirus policy within Massachusetts General Hospital and its parent organization, Mass General Brigham, and discussed Covid response with the mayor of her hometown of Newton to guide school reopening policy. She even helped inform her own synagogue on how to worship safely.
All the while she’s worked as a clinician, a mentor and a researcher, pairing an analytical approach to each role with a signature sense of empathy, warmth and humanity, according to those closest to her. In what spare time she’s had that wasn’t occupied as a mom of three, she appeared on CNN and wrote op-eds for the Washington Post and USA Today.
“Rochelle is a visionary leader who manages to combine warmth and intelligence in a unique way that will have a transformative impact on the CDC and on our nation’s public health,” said Katrina Armstrong, chair of medicine at MGH. As Walensky’s supervisor, Armstrong said she recommended Walensky to the Biden team. “The last months of the Covid response have really shown what Rochelle is capable of.”
A beginning amid the HIV crisis
Walensky first honed her skills while working as an intern at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine 30 years ago while Armstrong worked as chief resident there. It was the start of the HIV epidemic, and Walensky saw the birth of public health policy in the midst of the unknown, Armstrong said.
Walensky joined MGH in 2001, and began a career focused on HIV prevention and treatment, focusing on the cost-effective strategies of HIV care in the U.S. Her work is even credited for moving US policy to routine HIV screening. She became chief of infectious disease at MGH three years ago.
Beyond Walensky’s research, the shining star of her tenure was her work co-running the MGH/BWH Infectious Diseases Fellowship, mentoring and training physicians wanting a sub-specialty in infectious disease. Michael VanRooyen, chairman of emergency medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, described Walensky as “mentor extraordinaire,” saying she’s able to demand excellence while also being nurturing.
Eric Rubin, editor-in-chief for the New England Journal of Medicine, said the evidence of Walensky’s success is plain.
“As a mentor, the best thing to look at is her track record,” said Rubin. “Her people get funded, get jobs after. She cares about them.”
When coronavirus breached the shores of the state’s health system, the attention of every infectious disease expert quickly turned to coronavirus. The state tapped Walensky in March to serve on Gov. Charlie Baker’s Covid response team, putting her in hourly communication with the group about the state’s response.
A group of infectious disease chairs from hospitals in Greater Boston also began to meet to help decide how to distribute remdesivir, and more recently, monoclonal antibody treatments.
Meanwhile, Walensky remained deeply involved in how her own health system would respond. She was among the first to lead the call for a universal masking policy. She helped ensure testing for communities such as Chelsea and Revere that were disproportionately harmed, and emphasized a commitment to racial equity as part of her work on the hospital’s vaccine distribution taskforce.
Dan Kuritzkes, chief of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who also runs the fellowship, said she still was able to devote time to her mentees. He said Walensky particularly feared the pandemic might create research funding problems for her fellows, or that childcare issues would disrupt their careers.
“She’s been quite vocal at the national level at infectious disease society and speaking with program officers at NIH for potential solutions,” Kuritzkes said.
A focus on policy
But while she worked on the front lines of the coronavirus response, Walensky had in mind the broader policy implications. In November, along with Yale’s Paltiel and others, she published a paper calling for leadership from the federal government on a coronavirus vaccine distribution program. She also worked with a consortium of university presidents in Massachusetts to reopen colleges safely.
She spoke out against federal policies, warning in a recent Washington Post op-ed that President Donald Trump’s strategy to infect young people to speed up herd immunity “risks the deaths of millions.”
“She’s been extraordinary courageous about standing up in the context of Covid and HIV, for things that are important,” said Gregg S. Gonsalves, assistant professor of the Yale School of Public Health, who worked worked with Walensky on the op-ed.
Along with the op-eds were numerous segments on CNN and other news outlets to press for decision-making grounded in science and data.
“She’s able to communicate complicated scientific concepts in a clear and compelling way to the public,” said Peter Slavin, president of Massachusetts General Hospital. “I think one of the most important jobs for the next CDC director is to convince as many members of the public to be vaccinated, and I can’t think of a better person to win the trust of the people of this country.”
Walensky is the latest of several leaders with New England ties to be tapped to serve within the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Dr. Anthony Fauci, who received his degree from Holy Cross, will serve as chief medical adviser to President-elect Biden on Covid-19, and will also continue in his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, associate professor of internal medicine, public health, and management at Yale, has been appointed as the chair of Biden’s Covid-19 equity task force.
Vivek Murthy, who received his doctorate from Yale School of Medicine and an MBA from Yale School of Management, was also previously announced to reprise his role as U.S. Surgeon General, which he held under President Barack Obama. And Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, has been tapped to serve in the Biden-Harris Covid-19 Advisory Board.
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