Rosenbloom To Serve Extended Term as Chair ad interim..

Will work to strengthen Department of Health Policy and Management

BUSPH Dean Robert Meenan has asked Professor David Rosenbloom to serve an extended term as Chair ad interim of the Department of Health Policy and Management, a position he assumed on September 1st.

Rosenbloom, a former Boston Commissioner of Health and Hospitals with extensive public and private sector experience, will work closely with School leadership and department faculty to strengthen the department.

“David has done an excellent job as chair to date, and I am very positive about his ability to move the department forward towards our shared vision of making it a leading department at BUSPH and an increasingly respected one nationally,” Meenan said. “David has agreed to extend his tenure in the chair’s role for at least a few years, and I anticipate that his efforts to enhance the HP&M department will include the recruitment of new faculty.”

The extended appointment brings an end to the formal search process, but Meenan said he would remain open to recruiting a new permanent chair if the right candidate appears.

David RosenbloomRosenbloom, who earned a PhD in political science from MIT, was appointed as Commissioner of Health and Hospitals by Boston Mayor Kevin White in 1975. As commissioner, Rosenbloom was the city’s top public health officer and CEO of the city’s health delivery system, including Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center), 22 neighborhood health centers, and the emergency medical system. After leaving public service, he was president of Health Data Institute, a company that pioneered the clinical analysis of medical claims data and developed managed care tools and techniques used throughout the country today.

Rosenbloom joined the faculty of BUSPH in 1991 and for two decades served as the director of Join Together, a nationally prominent program at BUSPH that was funded primarily by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Join Together helped communities address substance abuse and gun violence issues through a multi-faceted, multi-organization approach.

For most of the 20 years that Join Together was at SPH, Rosenbloom maintained offices off campus because the program was too large to be accommodated on campus. Join Together’s online information services continue today in modified form under the direction of The Partnership at Drug Free.org in New York.

Rosenbloom has been involved in leading and working with several research activities at SPH, including directing the NIAAA funded Center on Alcohol Problems in Young People, and deploying a self-directed online intervention for alcohol-abusing combat veterans with PTSD.

He is currently teaching three sections of the core HPM course and PM 810: (Introduction to American Government for Public Health Students) as well as helping the University revamp its long-term strategy for promoting interdisciplinary addiction research.

Rosenbloom has conducted and published research in the fields of political science and substance abuse including a book on the development of the professional campaign management industry, four national surveys on community anti-drug organizations and strategies, and numerous articles on substance abuse policy. He chaired a Special Committee on the Clinical Trial Network program for the National Institute on Drug Abuse National Advisory Council. Rosenbloom also serves as a director of Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Stop Handgun Violence and is Chairman of QuitNet.com, Inc.

In a recent message to HP&M faculty and staff Rosenbloom wrote, “I am looking forward to working with you to build a strong department that attracts great students and serves them well and provides satisfying productive careers for our faculty and staff. I believe we have a strong foundation for both….Thank you for the welcome and support you have given me since September. I hope I continue to earn that support as we go forward together.”