LaMar Hasbrouck

Hasbrouck grew up San Diego, California^[9][10] and attended Will C. Crawford High School. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley (1988) and his Master of Public Health degree from UC Berkeley School of Public Health (1990).^[11] In 1994, Hasbrouck earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science joint program. He won the Charles Donald O’Malley Prize in Medical History and was recognized as Dean’s Scholar for his medical thesis titled, “The Flexner Report of 1910 and the well-being of Black Americans: historical underpinnings of a contemporary health crisis”. Hasbrouck completed his residency in internal medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical Center New York-Presbyterian Hospital from 1994 to 1997. He was a founding member, and inaugural chair, of the Minority House Staff Committee, established in 1995 to increase the number of residents who are traditionally underrepresented in internal medicine. In 2012, Hasbrouck completed the Harvard Kennedy School program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. He earned his MBA with a concentration in leadership and organizational health from the University of Saint Mary in 2019.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Hasbrouck began his career at the Centers for Disease Control in 1998 as a select member of the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), known colloquially as “disease detectives.” From 2000 – 2003, Hasbrouck was a medical officer with the National Center for Injury and Prevention Control and was the primary CDC scientist and contributing writer for the Surgeon General’s Report on Youth Violence (2001). He was actively engaged in two of the largest global health initiatives in history: the World Health Organization’s polio eradication program; and, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.^[16][10] He was a short-term consultant for the World Health Organization as a member of the CDC Stop Transmission of Polio (STOP) program assigned to Bangladesh. From 2004 to 2007, Hasbrouck was a senior medical officer with the Division of Global HIV/AIDS. He supported the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) programs in Namibia, Nigeria, and Haiti. In October 2007, Hasbrouck was appointed Chief of Party for CDC in Guyana, South America. As a diplomat member of the US Embassy from 2007 to 2009, Hasbrouck led the PEPFAR program, oversaw completion of the National Public Health Reference Laboratory and helped to coordinate the humanitarian and civic assistance mission by the USS Kearsarge as a part of Operation Continuing Promise in 2008.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

From 2009 to 2012, Hasbrouck was director of the Ulster County, New York Department of Health where he promoted programs to address health disparities, directing resources to most vulnerable populations and high consumers of healthcare.^{[22][23] [11][24][25][26]}

In 2012, Governor Pat Quinn nominated Hasbrouck to be the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. He was confirmed by the Illinois Senate on May 17, 2012, as the 17th Director for one of the state’s oldest agencies, first organized in 1877. From 2012 to 2015, Hasbrouck was a member of the Governor’s Health Innovation and Transformation (GOHIT) team responsible for implementing the Affordable Care Act, expanded Medicaid coverage, and other reforms throughout the state.^[27][28][29] Hasbrouck directed statewide responses to several flu outbreaks,^{[30][31][32][33]} the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and was co-chair for the state’s Ebola Task Force.^[34][35][36] Hasbrouck stepped down in early 2015 after Governor Quinn’s reelection loss.^{[37][38][39][40][41]}

He remained a senior advisor for Population Health at the Saudi Arabian Council of Cooperative Health Insurance.^[42] He also remained the Senior Advisor for Strategy and Growth with the American Medical Association,^[43][44] where he developed strategies to eliminate gaps in chronic disease prevention such as pre-diabetes and hypertension. He has held faculty positions at Emory University School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.^{[10][45][46][47][48][49][50]}

Hasbrouck leverages his background in medicine, epidemiology, public health, and health policy and provides expert insights to print, broadcast, and digital media, including CNN,^[51][52] USA Today,^[53][54][9] Chicago Tribune.^{[55][56][57][58]} Hasbrouck authored the book COVID Bytes: Musings of a Disease Detective based on his popular blog containing real-time, science-informed, witty critique of the first 12 months of the pandemic.^{[59][60][61][62]} He serves as a spokesperson for public health issues, including the ACA.^[63] He spoke at the Saudi Vision 2030^[42][64] and HIMSS21 Middle East.^{[65][66][67][68]}

• 2016: Top Blacks in Healthcare Award, BlackDoctor.org & Johns Hopkins Center for Health Disparities Solutions, 2016
• 2015: Weill Cornell Medicine Notable Alumni, 2015^[62]
• 2010: Public Health Service Outstanding Unit Citation (H1N1 pandemic), 2010
• 2009: United States Department of State, Meritorious Honor Award, 2009
• 2007: Public Health Service Outstanding Unit Citation (PEPFAR), 2007
• 2004: Public Health Service Outstanding Unit Citation (smallpox vaccination program), 2004
• 2002: Public Health Service Foreign Duty Award (polio eradication program), 2002
• 2000: United States Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, 2000