Dr. Leana Wen

CNN Medical Analyst, ER Physician, Healthcare Executive, Washington Post Columnist, and Best-Selling Author

In-Person Fee Range
Call for Fee
(Inquire for virtual fee)

Travels From
Maryland, United States

Change CNN Medical Analyst; ER Physician, Healthcare Executive, Washington Post Columnist, and Best-Selling Author

Dr. Leana Wen is an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. A nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, she is also a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, writing on health policy and public health, and an on-air commentator for CNN as a medical analyst. The author of the critically-acclaimed book on patient advocacy, When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests, she has a memoir, Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health.

Health Commissioner

Previously, she served as health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, where she led the nation’s oldest continuously operating health department to combat the opioid epidemic and improve maternal and child health. She has also worked as director of patient-centered care research in the department of emergency medicine at George Washington University; president of Planned Parenthood; global health fellow at the World Health Organization; consultant to the China Medical Board; and distinguished fellow at the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity.

Boards

Currently, Dr. Wen serves on the board of directors of Glaukos Corporation and as the chair of the advisory board of the Behavioral Health Group. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Baltimore Community Foundation. Her previous board experience includes being board chair of Behavioral Health System Baltimore for four years and serving on boards and advisory of boards to more than ten nonprofit and venture-backed health innovation companies.

Education

Dr. Wen obtained her medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine and studied health policy at the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She completed her residency training at Brigham & Women’s Hospital & Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School.

Honors

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Wen has received recognition as one of Governing’s Public Officials of the Year, Modern Healthcare’s Top 50 Physician-Executives, World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, and TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.

Dr. Wen lives with her husband and their two young children in Baltimore.

Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health

From the opioid epidemic, addressing violence as a public health issue and improving maternal and child health to how COVID-19 has exposed long-standing faults in our system, Dr. Wen discusses the need and urgency for health reform. She shares her family's inspiring immigration story and how these early hardships are themselves testament to the power of public health.

COVID-19 & the Future of Healthcare

Dr. Wen is one of the nation’s leading experts in the COVID-19 pandemic, called upon for her expertise by Congress, state and local governments, businesses, schools/universities, and scientific organizations. She can also provide an update on the state of the coronavirus outbreak that is tailored to the specific audience: for example, what are possible trajectories of the pandemic and the impact on businesses? What are lessons learned for cities and for public health preparedness? She also speaks to the future of medicine and healthcare: What are the major trends in payment reform, health workforce, and medical technology, and how will they, in the COVID-19 era, shape the future of medicine and public health

Racial Disparities in Health

Dr. Wen is a leading national expert on health disparities. During the COVID-19 crisis, she was asked to testify twice to the U.S. House of Representatives on the unequal impact of the pandemic on communities of color. While she served as Baltimore's health commissioner, she reconfigured the agency to specifically focus on health equity and was among the first leaders to declare racism as a public health crisis. She can speak from the lens of current events on how COVID-19 has unmasked existing disparities and specifically focus on innovative solutions that reduce disparities and improve health in the short-term, as well as long-term efforts to address structural inequities.

Women in Leadership

Women, and women leaders, face distinctive challenges in the workplace. Trained in trauma/ER medicine and having been one of many “firsts” as a woman of color, Dr. Wen speaks from first-hand experience and from her professional research about the challenges and opportunities for women in leadership. These include advice for women about the “double bind”and “glass cliff”, such as owning one’s authentic identity and negotiating societal expectations. Dr. Wen alspo gives talks in crisis leadership, innovative leadership, and overcoming adversity. These include lessons from innovative leadership locally and nationally, drawing upon her background convening unlikely stakeholders around shared goals; leading collective impact, public-private collaborations in public health; and getting to points of agreement in turbulent political environments.

Wellness & Work-Life Balance

Dr. Wen has given dozens of talks to corporate audiences about employee wellness. One type of presentation is to employees on mental health and well-being, reducing stress, and simple things to improve health every day. She also includes patient advocacy tips including advice for those caring for children and older parents. Another type of presentation is for managers and HR directors. Dr. Wen has studied and implemented citywide wellness initiatives and corporate wellness strategies; she discusses best practices that improve employee well-being and productivity. She can also approach the topic from her work on the opioid epidemic and mental health crises—the “diseases of despair”—and speak in particular about what everyone can do to build resilience and incorporate mental and physical wellness routines into their work and home lives. Finally, she references both her own experiences negotiating dual roles as mother/executive and her research on women, parents, and caregivers in the workplace to speak about work-life balance in a changing environment.

Mental Health & Well Being

All Dr. Leana Wen Books

Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health
Purchase Book
When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests
Purchase Book

Check Dr. Leana Wen Availability

Recent Books

Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health
Purchase Book
When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests
Purchase Book

Your Speakers

Please add any speakers you are interested in to your list. You can send this list to us to inquire about availability.

Clear All

No Speakers in List

Scroll to Top