James V. McDonald MD, MPH (he, him, his) was appointed Acting Commissioner of Health January 1, 2023, and confirmed by the Senate June 9th, 2023. Prior to joining the New York State Department of Health in July of 2022, Dr. McDonald served at the Rhode Island Department of Health since 2012.

At the Rhode Island Department of Health, Dr. McDonald served in multiple roles including, Interim Director of Health, Chief Administrative Officer of the Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline, Medical Director for the COVID unit, as well as the Medical Director for Division of Health care quality and safety and the Drug Overdose prevention program. He was also a member of the Governor's task force on Preventing Overdose deaths. Dr. McDonald has faculty appointment at the UAlbany School of Public Health as well as Brown School of Public Health.

Dr. McDonald earned his MD from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, pediatric residency in the US Navy and his preventive medicine residency from the State University of New York. Dr. McDonald earned his MPH from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and his BS in Biology from Siena College.

Dr. McDonald is board certified in pediatrics as well as preventive medicine.

Dr. McDonald's diverse career includes Officership in the United States Navy, as well as private practice in rural areas where health care shortages existed. Dr. McDonald also served in the Indian Health Service in in the Navajo Nation, serving as Medical Director of Outpatient Medicine in Chinle, Arizona.

Dr. McDonald was awarded the degree Doctor of Humane Letters from Siena College in May of 2024 for exemplary achievement, leadership and commitment to humanitarian ideals.

Johanne E. Morne, MS (she, her, hers) is the Executive Deputy Commissioner and previously the Deputy Commissioner, Office of Health Equity and Human Rights (OHEHR) for the New York State Department of Health. Ms. Morne was appointed in August 2022 as a member of the Department's Cabinet, to lead the Department's health equity and human rights planning, policy development and programming.

Ms. Morne also worked for the AIDS Institute for 15 years, serving as the Director for six of those years. The AI portfolio includes HIV and other sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention and care, viral hepatitis prevention and treatment, drug user health and wellness, and LGBTQ+ health and human services. Ms. Morne's leadership has advanced the State's Ending the AIDS Epidemic and Hepatitis C Elimination initiatives. Her leadership led to New York State Department of Health implementing essential policy changes to promote expanded access to HIV, STI and Hepatitis C prevention, treatment, and care, as well as furthering statewide harm reduction programming and LGBTQ+ service delivery. Ms. Morne's early career included leadership positions in public health, domestic violence, substance use, organizational development and organizational change.

Ms. Morne served as a board member of the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD), serving as the Board Chair from 2019 to 2020 and on the Executive Committee from 2018 - 2022. In 2019, Ms. Morne was appointed to the CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee (CHAC) on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment. The CHAC advises the HHS Secretary, the CDC Director, and the HRSA Administrator on objectives, strategies, policies and priorities for HIV, viral hepatitis, STD prevention and treatment efforts.

Maclain Berhaupt (she, her, hers) is the Chief of Staff to the Commissioner. In this capacity, Ms. Berhaupt assists the Commissioner and senior leadership team with agency management, strategic initiatives and supporting public health responses to emerging issues.

Ms. Berhaupt brings more than 20 years of policy and management experience in the fields of healthcare, affordable housing, social services and community development. Ms. Berhaupt previously served as the Deputy Chief of Staff at New York State Department of Health. Prior to joining Department of Health, she served in several positions at the Supportive Housing Network of New York, the nation's premier supportive housing membership organization, with more than 200 nonprofits throughout New York State. Over the 12 years at the Network, she served as Interim Executive Director, Associate Executive Director and State Policy Director advancing several policy and funding initiatives including collaborating with the New York State Department of Health and Medicaid Redesign Team to secure and develop a $75 million supportive housing program serving high-need Medicaid recipients and working directly with State and New York City governments to manage the Network's response to the COVID pandemic.

Amir Bassiri, MSW (he, him, his) is the Medicaid Director for the New York State Department of Health. Mr. Bassiri joined the Department of Health in 2019 as Chief of Staff to the Medicaid Director and recently served as the Deputy Medicaid Director, overseeing the operation and performance of nine Medicaid Divisions. Collectively, these nine Divisions are comprised of more than 750 State staff, over 500 contracted staff and management of over 300 contracts, including some of the State's largest technology, actuarial and financial audit contracts, along with health plans.

Prior to his work with the Department, Mr. Bassari worked as a Senior Policy Advisor for Health in the Governor's Office under the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Mr. Bassiri earned his BA in both Economics and Psychology from the University of California, Davis, before earning a Master's in Social Work (MSW) from Columbia University.

Alyssa DeRosa, JD (she, her, hers) is the Associate Commissioner for the Office of Governmental and External Affairs for the New York State Department of Health. She is an attorney with several years of public policy experience at the highest levels of New York State government. Ms. DeRosa most recently served as Deputy Executive Director of External Affairs at the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, where she led a team in shaping the State’s response to all forms of gender-based violence.

Prior to that role, she served as Assistant Counsel to Governor Kathy Hochul. In the Governor’s Counsel’s Office, she advised the Governor on issues related to public health and gender-based violence, in addition to overseeing major litigation, programming, and regulatory actions at several State agencies. Ms. DeRosa was an Excelsior Fellow at the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and has worked at the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the Brennan Center for Justice.

She earned her juris doctorate from New York University School of Law in 2018 and graduated summa cum laude from Boston University, where she received a BA in History.

Douglas Fish, MD (he, him, his) is a native of Ohio, having attending Ohio State University for medical school. He did his internal medicine residency at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and the University of Arizona in Tucson. Dr. Fish completed his Infectious Disease fellowship at the University of Arizona, as well.

After working in public health in Tennessee for a couple of years, Dr. Fish moved to Capital Region to practice Infectious Diseases at Albany Medical Center, where he became the Medical Director for their Designated AIDS Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine.

Dr. Fish practiced full time at Albany Medical Center over 20 years, before coming to the New York State Department of Health's Office of Health Insurance Programs in 2015, where he became the Chief Medical Officer and head of the Division of Medical and Dental Directors.

Dr. Fish is board certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases and continues on faculty at Albany Medical Center.

Drew Hanchett, MS (he, him, his) joined the department in March of 2023. In this role, Mr. Hanchett is broadly responsible for governance and oversight of technology investment to support delivery of the mission and business goals of the department's myriad of programs. The domains of responsibility for his office include project governance, cybersecurity, data and operations.

Prior to coming to the Department of Health, Mr. Hanchett served in the Office of Information Technology Services as the Executive Director for the environment, energy and transformation portfolio of New York State agencies where he was responsible for the provision and delivery of technology support services to several executive agencies including, New York State Parks, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Department of Transportation.

Since moving back to New York in 2011, Mr. Hanchett has held several positions in state government including managing enterprise-wide initiatives focused on agency level performance management and running a multi-agency technology initiative that consolidated processes related to starting and running a business in New York State into a single on-line portal.

Mr. Hanchett has over 20 years of public sector management experience and received his Master's degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the Boston University School of Public Health.

Eugene P. Heslin, MD (he, him, his) is the First Deputy Commissioner and Chief Medical Officer for New York State Department of Health since July of 2017. Prior to that, he founded, owned and operated a private medical practice called Bridge Street Family Medicine. The primary care office located in rural New York is where he had previously practiced for the last 30 years.

During his tenure at the New York State Department of Health he was involved in multiple aspects of the COVID pandemic response. Prior to COVID he developed global budget payment models as pilot programs in rural New York State and is currently involved in the Making Care Primary initiative for the state. He works across the entire New York State Department of Health as a policy and subject matter expert.

Dr. Heslin earned his MD From the University of Texas Health Science Center Houston and his Family Medicine residency in Kingston, New York. He earned his BS in Chemistry and MS in Chemistry at Fordham University in the Bronx.

He is board certified in Family Practice.

His diverse career includes chairing the Board of Community Health Care System – including three hospitals, two nursing homes and a CCRC and serving as a founding member of local Riho as well as the NY State HIE.

Dr. Heslin is a Distinguished Eagle Scout.

Danielle Holahan, MPH (she, her, hers) was appointed Executive Director of the NY State of Health, New York's Health Plan Marketplace, in September 2021 after serving as Deputy Director since April 2011. One of the nation's most successful marketplaces, NY State of Health provides consumers a one-stop shopping experience to enroll in high-quality comprehensive coverage, including Medicaid, Child Health Plus, Essential Plan (New York's Basic Health Program) and subsidized and unsubsidized Qualified Health Plans. Since the Marketplace opened in 2013, NY State of Health has seen a dramatic increase in enrollment, reaching 6.6 million enrollees in September 2022, and a commensurate reduction in the state's uninsured from 10 percent to 5 percent in 2019.

From 1999 to 2011, Danielle worked at the United Hospital Fund of New York, where she was Co-Director of the Health Insurance Project. Her work focused on analysis of health insurance coverage issues, options for coverage expansion, and public program enrollment and retention.

From 1994 to 1997, she worked at AARP's Public Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Holahan holds a Bachelor of Arts from Franklin & Marshall College and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Columbia University's Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health.

David R. Holtgrave, PhD (he, him, his) joined the Department of Health in August 2024 as a Special Advisor to the Commissioner; as of December 2025 he also serves as the Department’s Emerging Drug Threats Coordinator.

From 2022 to 2024, Dr. Holtgrave served in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, a post for which his portfolio spanned public health and translational research aspects of substance use policy.

From 2018 to 2022, he was the Dean, SUNY Distinguished Professor and SUNY Empire Innovation Professor at the School of Public Health, University at Albany, State University of New York. He is now SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

Dr. Holtgrave is currently appointed as an Adjunct Professor with the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Holtgrave served as Founding Chair of the department from 2005 to 2018 and served as the Inaugural Health, Behavior and Society Professor.

During President Barack Obama's Administration, Dr. Holtgrave served as a member and then Vice-Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA).

Dr. Holtgrave also previously served as the Director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention -- Intervention Research & Support at the U.S. Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and as Professor and then Vice-Chair of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.

Dr. Holtgrave's 35 years of research experience have focused on bringing the highest quality scientific evidence to bear on urgent public health programmatic and policy decisions. This is evidenced, for example, by his translational work in addressing HIV-related health inequities in the U.S., rapid research to inform COVID clinical decision making, and the development of an evidence-based national response plan to confront the emerging challenge of fentanyl adulterated by xylazine.

A first-generation college student, Dr. Holtgrave earned his PhD in 1988 from the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign in Quantitative Psychology and immediately thereafter held a post-doctoral research fellowship in the Interdisciplinary Programs in Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Tina Kim, MSPH (she, her, hers) is the Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Health Equity and Human Rights (OHEHR) at the New York State Department of Health. Tina leads the Office of Health Equity and Human Rights, and is responsible for developing, shaping and implementing the Department's policies and programs advancing health equity, human rights, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The Office of Health Equity and Human Rights leads the New York State Department of Health's commitment and strategy to be a diverse, anti-racist, equitable and inclusive organization.

Ms. Kim joined the New York State Department of Health in November 2022 as Deputy Director for the Office of Health Equity and Human Rights. Prior to the New York State Department of Health, Ms. Kim was appointed in January 2021 to serve as Assistant Secretary for Health for the State of New York. Within the Governor's State Operations Office, Ms. Kim developed and implemented cross-cutting, statewide public health and health care initiatives and strategies across New York State.

Before joining New York State government, Ms. Kim held prominent leadership positions in New York City government. Tina was Chief of Staff for the Deputy Executive Director leading the nation's largest COVID testing and contact tracing operation in New York City. Ms. Kim also served as Senior Advisor for Health Care Delivery in the New York City Mayor's Office. Before the COVID pandemic, Ms. Kim helped design and launch New York City's mayoral Guaranteed Care initiative, which includes the NYC Care program that provides health care services for uninsured New York City residents. Ms. Kim also designed other citywide health and public health initiatives involving cross-agency collaboration, most notably the Asthma-Free Bronx program to address pediatric asthma in the Bronx.

Ms. Kim has worked in policy roles for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Community Clinic Association of Los Angeles County, the Gates Foundation, Asian and Pacific Islander Health Forum and the San Francisco Department of Public Health. She holds a Master's of Science (MSPH) in Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Damien LaVera (he, him, his) serves as Deputy Commissioner for the Public Affair Group at the New York State Department of Health.

Damien LaVera is an award-winning communications executive with more than 25 years’ experience in strategic communications, media relations, and rapid response. Prior to joining the Department, he was Senior Vice President for Public Affairs and Issues Management at an independent public relations firm. Recognized for leading successful communications strategies in government, politics, organized labor, and the private sector, LaVera previously served as the Communications Director for the New York State Attorney General, Communications Director for New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), and Press Secretary & Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Energy.

After receiving a Bachelor's in Political Science from Binghamton University in 1998, he earned a Master of Arts from George Washington University in 2000.

Kathy S. Marks, JD (she, her, hers) joined the New York State Department of Health as General Counsel in November 2020. In this role, Ms. Marks oversees more than 100 attorneys and staff in nine different Bureaus. Among other things, these Bureaus provide legal advice to the Department in all program areas; draft, review and comment on legislation and regulations; represent the Department in defensive and affirmative litigation; prosecute physicians and physicians assistants charged with professional misconduct; enforce the Public Health Law and sections of the Social Services Law in administrative hearings; and respond to requests for records submitted pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law.

Prior to joining the New York State Department of Health, Ms. Marks was a commercial litigator specializing in health care, the False Claims Act, and government investigations. From 2007 to 2010, Kathy served as Counsel to the New York State Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. From 1991 to 2007, Ms. Marks served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, including serving as Chief of the Immigration Unit and Deputy Chief of Appeals.

Ms. Marks is a graduate of Georgetown University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Dr. Leonard Peruski (he, him, his) is the Director of the Wadsworth Center, the research-intensive public health laboratory of the New York State Department of Health and one of the oldest and most renowned public health research laboratories in the world. Over his 30-year career, Dr. Peruski has spent 17 years internationally developing sustainable laboratory capacity and guiding laboratory-centric public health research in over 70 countries.

Before joining the Department of Health, Dr. Peruski led the international laboratory operations of the Division of Global Health Protection of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2016-2023. Prior to that, he was Director of the CDC's Global Disease Detection Regional Center for Central America, and he served as the CDC's Senior Regional Laboratory Advisor for Southeast Asia in Bangkok, Thailand. Dr. Peruski also served in the U.S. Navy. He was stationed at a Naval Medical Research Unit in Cairo, Egypt, and was later transferred to the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. In addition to his vast knowledge of special pathogens and other infectious disease agents, Dr. Peruski has had extensive experience responding to major outbreaks globally, including anthrax, botulism, Ebola, Zika and more—including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Peruski holds a doctoral degree in microbiology from the University of Michigan School of Medicine.

Eli S. Rosenberg (he, him, his) is Director of the Office of Science, which provides epidemiologic, analytic, data systems, and research capabilities to support the Department of Health's data-driven decision-making. An infectious disease epidemiologist who specializes in HIV/STI, viral hepatitis, vaccine-preventable and emerging infectious diseases, Dr. Rosenberg originally joined the Department in spring of 2020 on detail from the University at Albany School of Public Health to help lead data-driven projects in support of the COVID-19 response.

Dr. Rosenberg spent nearly a decade in academia, serving as associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University at Albany School of Public Health, and as an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. His academic research centered on epidemiologic studies to address major public health challenges in infectious diseases, with a focus on surveillance, prevention, and social determinants. Concurrent to these positions, he was a guest epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention and the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.

Having received his PhD in Epidemiology from Emory University and BS in Biometry and Statistics from Cornell University, Dr. Rosenberg has authored over 200 publications in peer-reviewed scientific literature.

Andrew Ruby, MPA (he, him, his) is the Deputy Commissioner for Administration and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the New York State Department of Health. In this role, Mr. Ruby coordinates the efforts of fiscal management, human resources management, operations management and audit services.

Mr. Ruby has served with the Department since 2013, including six years as the director of fiscal management. Prior to his time with the Department, he worked at the Division of the Budget.

Mr. Ruby holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Rockefeller College at SUNY Albany, and a BS in Biology from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Anne Schettine, RN (she, her, hers) is the director of the Office of Health Services Quality and Analytics. In this role, Ms. Schettine leads the use of health care data sources to evaluate how health care services are performing and the impacts to health care outcomes. The Office is responsible for stewardship of several health care services data sources including SPARCS, All Payer Data System and Vital Statistics.

Ms. Schettine is also the Department's lead with the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY) which manages and operates health information exchange throughout New York. Researchers, clinicians, and data innovation experts in the office work with the various data sources to inform the Department, stakeholders, and public about the quality of health care services and areas for improvement.

Ms. Schettine has been with the Department for twenty-five years focused on health care quality measures and opportunities to improve healthcare outcomes. Anne had several progressively higher-level leadership roles before becoming the Director of the Office in 2017.

Before joining the Department, Ms. Schettine worked as a registered nurse at an acute care facility where she began her career in quality management, including achieving a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality.

Laura J. Trolio (she, her, hers) is the Acting Deputy Commissioner for the Office of Public Health at the New York State Department of Health. In this role, Ms. Trolio oversees a comprehensive portfolio addressing chronic diseases, infectious diseases, injuries, environmental health, maternal, child and family health, among other critical public health issues.

With over 20 years of experience, Ms. Trolio has been at the forefront of both community-based organizations and governmental public health. Her expertise spans program design, implementation, management, evaluation, quality improvement, policy formulation and strategic planning. Since joining the New York State Department of Health in 2013, Ms. Trolio's has held various leadership positions, culminating in her current appointment in August 2024.

Ms. Trolio is a dedicated public health social worker, holding a Bachelor's degree from the University at Albany in Social Welfare and a Public Health certificate from Cornell University. Her leadership emphasizes innovative solutions to public health challenges focusing on health equity and influencing policy within New York State and nationally. Her work has made significant impacts on HIV/AIDS, sexual health, drug user health, Hepatitis, LGBTQ healthand public health workforce development.

Driven by a passion for public health, Ms. Trolio has led initiatives in strategic planning, community health, workforce development and workplace well-being. Ms. Trolio's commitment to health equity and effective public health practice guides her efforts to address health disparities and promote health for all New Yorkers.