SAN FRANCISCO, CA (TIP): Former Indian American U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has joined the Board of Directors of Common Sense Media to add public health expertise to the organization.
Murthy will bring his decades of medical expertise to Common Sense Media’s efforts to build a healthier digital landscape for children and families everywhere, according to a media release.
Dr. Vivek Murthy served as the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States, serving from 2015 to 2017 and 2021 to 2025 in the Obama and Biden administrations.
In 2023, he issued an advisory on the effects of social media on youth mental health. The following year, he called for warning labels on addictive social media platforms, an effort that Common Sense Media strongly supports.
“With Dr. Murthy’s extraordinary guidance, Common Sense Media will be able to double down on our efforts to better understand and tackle technology’s role in the youth mental health crisis,” said Common Sense Media Founder and CEO James P. Steyer.
“He is a truly unique addition to our leadership team of policy experts, joining our Board at a time when substantive expertise and insights into tech’s impact on kids’ mental health are needed more than ever. His remarkable wealth of knowledge and global leadership role will be invaluable at a time when AI, including unsafe AI companion chatbots, poses an increasing threat to the mental health and well-being of our kids and families across the nation and globally.”
During his two terms as Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy’s initiatives shaped national and international conversations and compelled change across business and non-profit organizations, according to the release.
He has drawn attention to critical and under-appreciated health issues, including the epidemic of loneliness, parental mental health and well-being, the youth mental health crisis, and health worker burnout.
Common Sense Media’s ratings, research, and resources reach more than 150 million users worldwide and over 1.4 million educators and more than 100K schools worldwide every year.
Born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire to immigrants from Karnataka, India, Dr. Murthy is the grandson of the late H C Narayana Murthy, the former director of Mysore Sugar Company, and son of Florida-based H N Lakshmi Narasimha Murthy and Maithreya Murthy.
In 1978, the family crossed the Atlantic to Newfoundland, where his father worked as a district medical officer. When he was three years old, the family relocated to Miami, and his parents established their medical practice.
Dr. Murthy is a graduate of Harvard, the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale School of Management.
Tag: Dr Vivek Murthy
-
Former Indian American Surgeon General Vivek Murthy joins Common Sense Media Board of Directors
-
American Dr Vivek Murthy on WHO board as US representative
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): President Joe Biden has nominated US Surgeon General, Dr Vivek Murthy, to serve as the country’s representative on the executive board of the World Health Organisation. Dr Murthy, 45, will serve in the new position alongside his continued duties as the US Surgeon General, the White House said in a statement. He was confirmed by the US Senate in March 2021 to serve as the 21st Surgeon General of the country. He previously served as the 19th Surgeon General under President Barack Obama. As the nation’s doctor, the Surgeon General’s mission is to help lay the foundation for a healthier country, relying on the best scientific information available to provide clear, consistent and equitable guidance and resources for the public. The first Surgeon General of Indian descent, Murthy, was raised in Miami and is a graduate of Harvard, the Yale School of Medicine, and the Yale School of Management, the White House said.
-
Indian American lawmakers & top Biden admin members celebrate ‘Diwali’ at US Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Led by Indian American lawmakers, top members serving in the Biden administration and a select group of community members from across the country gathered to celebrate the festival of lights, ‘Diwali’, at the US Congress, the temple of democracy.
Reflecting on the emergence of this small but influential community in the American socio-political spectrum, lawmakers praised the contribution of Indian Americans in the development of the US and highlighted the significance of Diwali in a post-COVID-19 world.
”We, for the last almost two years, have been in the midst of a pandemic that has turned our lives upside down. Many of us, myself included, have sustained losses of family and friends. I know many of you have as well, whether it’s family here, family back in India or in the diaspora or around the world. We have suffered heavy losses,” US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy said at the event.
”But one of the things that concerns me most about the last few years is another type of pandemic, the invisible pandemic that we are in the midst of. That’s a pandemic of polarization where it feels increasingly people have turned against each other, where they’ve demonized one another, called each other evil and treated each other as so. That’s a particular kind of darkness,” he said. The Capitol Hill Diwali celebration was organized by Indiaspora in association with several community organizations. Remembering the teachings of his mother, Dr Murthy said Diwali is supposed to be a day about light conquering darkness.
”She would always say Vivek, people you encounter in America will come from different faiths and traditions. But remember that the light of God exists within each one of them, always, regardless of where they’re from,” he said.
”When I think about Diwali, I think about it in that context. Can we remember the light that exists within ourselves and one another? Can we not allow it? Can we not allow that light to be expunged because we happen to be on the other side of the political spectrum as somebody else or hold different views from them. This is as much a challenge here, as it is back in India and in many countries around the world,” Dr Murthy said.
Indian American Congressmen Dr Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna and Pramila Jayapal addressed the gathering and greeted the community on the occasion. ”I’m very proud to say that I’m the first South Asian American woman ever elected to the United States House of Representatives. Hopefully I’m not going to be the last and there are going to be many, many more of us to come,” Jayapal said. The Congresswoman also said that the last three months have been rough for her and her family. Congresswoman Judy Chu said that President Joe Biden has appointed a record number of Indian Americans in his administration.
”President Biden is ushering in a new era of Asian Americans, especially Indian American representation. For instance, he named Dr Vivek Murthy to serve on his cabinet as a Surgeon General. Just last week, he made the historic move to name Neera Tanden as a White House staff secretary, one of the highest positions in the White House,” she said.
”And of course, just one year ago, we shattered one of the highest glass ceilings of all when Kamala Harris, the daughter of an Indian immigrant, was sworn in as the first woman Asian and Black vice president in history,” she said.
Popular African American singer Mary Milben, who especially flew in from California to attend the Diwali celebrations, mesmerized the select audience with her rendition of ”Om Jai Jagdish Hare” which went viral last year. Milben announced that she would be travelling to India next January. ”India has truly become my family and my friends. So, it’s a joy to be here in the nation’s capital to celebrate this wonderful, spiritual and beautiful holiday that so many speakers have already talked about. It is a beautiful moment for cultures and faiths to come together and celebrate during this moment: Light over darkness the beauty of this beautiful holiday,” Milben said.