Meet Our Director

Don Wright, MD, MPH
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health
Director, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Don Wright has been the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and Director of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) since January 3, 2012. In this capacity, he leads the coordination and policy development for public health and prevention activities within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ODPHP is responsible for Healthy People 2020, a framework for public health priorities and actions comprised of a comprehensive set of ten-year national health objectives. As Director of ODPHP, he also provides leadership for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, evidence-based nutrition policy, and is the Chief Medical Advisor for healthfinder.gov. Dr. Wright also serves as the Acting Director of the Office of Research Integrity.

Prior to joining the ODPHP team, Dr. Wright served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Healthcare Quality. From 2007 to 2009, he was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health within HHS. During this time, he was appointed by the president to serve as the alternate U.S. delegate to the World Health Organization Executive Board. Before joining HHS, Dr. Wright was Director of the Office of Occupational Medicine for the U.S. Department of Labor, where he built strong governmental and non-governmental partnerships addressing safety and health.

Dr. Wright received an undergraduate degree from Texas Tech University, a medical degree from the University of Texas, and a master’s degree in public health from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He completed his family medicine residency training at Baylor College of Medicine and is board-certified in both Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine. He is a fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the American Academy of Family Physicians.