By Todd Feathers, News Staff
After leaving his position as Massachusetts’ Public Health Commissioner amid a scandal involving the mishandling of evidence at a state laboratory, John Auerbach has joined Northeastern as the new head of the Institute on Urban Health Research.
Auerbach, who worked in top public health positions for more than 20 years, served as the state’s head health official for five years before resigning to take the job at Northeastern. He said that as Public Health Commissioner he must accept responsibility for the mistakes made at a Jamaica Plain drug lab, but he was already planning to resign in order to take the Northeastern position.
“What unfortunately didn’t get focused on is that I was leaving because I was taking this terrific opportunity,” Auerbach told The ews. “I was disappointed that, in my opinion, the news about the drug lab overshadowed my new position to link my experience in public health to the educational field at Northeastern.”
Auerbach said he had been communicating with Terry Fulmer, dean of the Bouve College of Health Sciences, about the position for several months before news about the drug lab broke.
Fulmer said the scandal does not tarnish Auerbach’s reputation in her opinion.
“He was one of the longest standing commissioners of public health in the United States and people regularly turn to him for advice when they come into the role,” Fulmer said. “For example the commissioner for New York state, Dr. [Nirav] Shah, John was his mentor in helping him assume the role. To have people turn to him for advice and counsel in these very complex roles is really quite special.”
Auerbach said his hands-on experience in the public sector will help him guide the institute as it attempts to tackle some of the most difficult health issues of the day. In particular, he hopes to put a special focus on researching and evaluating the effects of the Affordable Care Act as its many parts begin to take effect.
“I have a particular interest in the promotion of health equity and the elimination of health disparities,” Auerbach said. “In that area there will be many opportunities to look at the experience of expanding health care coverage to new populations and whether or not those measures have been effective.”
He praised Fulmer’s vision for Bouve and said one of the primary reasons he decided to accept the position was because he admires the way theoretical research is coupled with practical research at Northeastern.
“One of the strengths of the institute is that it’s always been based on doing research that’s based on practical application in the field,” Auerbach said. “I’m someone who is much more interested in practical.”
In addition to work on health care reform, Fulmer said she hopes Auerbach’s connections to state and local government will offer students more opportunities to work directly with health officials to solve pressing urban health problems.
“Our Institute for Urban Health Research conducts research into some very, very intractable problems such as the reduction of obesity, struggling for the prevention of type diabetes and helping with smoking cessation,” Fulmer said.
She added that Auerbach’s influence may help to create new co-op opportunities in those areas and establish Northeastern as a pioneer of hands-on urban health research.
“What I’d like John to do is position Northeastern as a national leader in the health of the country and in solving important problems,” Fulmer said.
