Ranit Mishori, MD, MHS
Dr. Ranit Mishori is a recognized leader and advocate for the health of the public in general, and of marginalized populations in particular, who is currently leading the COVID-19 response for Georgetown University. Her medical and public health expertise covers a broad range: from women's and migrant health, to evidence-based medicine, to health disparities, to prevention and primary care. Her research and insights on medicine and policy find a broad audience both in her academic writing, and through her frequent articles and appearances in the mainstream media. A former journalist, Dr. Mishori is skilled at rendering complex issues into plain English.
Dr. Mishori currently serves as Georgetown University's VP & Chief Public Health Officer, where she offers strategic advice for dealing with the pandemic, while managing the response day-to-day. She established and co-directs the university's Public Health Operations Unit, where she oversees the university contact tracing and care navigator operations and provides technical expertise to all units and divisions in establishing and running protocols related to testing, vaccination, public health mitigation measures, community relations, strategic communications and more.
Pre-pandemic, Dr. Mishori directed the Department of Family Medicine's Global Health Initiatives and led Georgetown's Practice-Based Research Network, among other roles. She was a member of the health policy team for presidential candidate Joe Biden, and prior to that she worked on Pete Buttigieg's campaign where she participated in drafting multiple policy briefs and co-chaired the women's, sexual, and reproductive health policy sub-committee.
Dr, Mishori brings a social justice and human rights lens to all of her medical pursuits. From an early start covering wars and the plight of refugees for global news organizations, she has been focused on the far-reaching impact of conflict, and ways to relieve the suffering that comes with it. As a physician and advocate, she is widely recognized for her work with forced migrants, torture survivors, asylum seekers, and women affected by sexual violence. She is medical director and co-founder of Georgetown's Asylum Program, an initiative designed to provide medical evaluations to migrants seeking asylum in the US, while also functioning as a teaching opportunity for health professionals of all disciplines and specialties. This work dovetails with her position as Senior Medical Advisor for the Nobel Prize co-laureate organization Physicians for Human Rights, where she is deeply engaged with PHR's Asylum Program, its COVID response, Program on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones, among others.
Dr. Mishori's leadership roles are numerous. A Diplomate and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians – the largest single-specialty professional organization in the US - Dr. Mishori has been a deeply engaged leader in initiatives spanning primary care, global health, population, and community health. She was appointed to a 4-year term on the AAFP's Commission on Health of the Public and Science where she helped steer the Academy's national policies. As chair of the Public Health Issues committee, she authored multiple policies and position papers on behalf of the academy. She has represented the AAFP at various national meetings and committees, including at the CDC, ACOG, among others. Locally, she has served 4-consecutive terms on the board of directors of the DC Academy of Family Physicians, co-chairing the advocacy committee. Dr. Mishori's expertise and leadership on women's health have also earned her a spot as co-chair on the DC Department of Health's Maternal Health Advisory Board.
Dr. Mishori has received multiple awards and has been elected and selected to serve on more than a dozen national and international advisory boards and committees. True to her journalism roots, Dr. Mishori continues to report and write on health and medicine, publishing more than 250 articles in the popular media, including the Washington Post, USA Today, and the Huffington Post. Between 2008 and 2011, she was the medical columnist for Parade Magazine. She frequently represents Georgetown and PHR on TV, radio, print, and web-based news outlets.
Her medical education included an MHS in International Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MD from Georgetown University School of Medicine, and a residency in family medicine, also at Georgetown. She is currently pursuing an MSt in International Human Rights Law at Oxford University.
