Elizabeth Whalen
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Master of Public Health, University at Albany, 2012
MD, Conferred University of the State of New York, 1998
MB, BCh, BAO, National University of Ireland Galway, Republic of Ireland, 1992
BS, Psychology, Fairfield University, 1987
About
Dr. Elizabeth Whalen MD, MPH, DipABLM is the Medical Director for the Office of Public Health at the New York State Department of Health. She has over 30 years of experience in medicine including work in clinical medicine, managed care, public health and preventive medicine and lifestyle medicine.
Dr. Whalen completed medical training at the National University of Ireland Galway and did residency and was Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at Albany Medical Center. She obtained board certification in Internal Medicine and entered primary care practice in Albany.
After some years of office practice, she made the transition to public health, working at the Albany County Department of Health as Medical Director where among other things she developed plans related to pandemic influenza. Dr. Whalen completed additional training in public health obtaining a master’s in public health and medical board certification in Public Health and Preventive Medicine through a program jointly sponsored by the State University of New York at Albany and the New York State Department of Health.
She worked for three years as Medical Director for Medicaid for Capital District Physicians Health Plan, a physician led nonprofit health insurance company in Albany, where she founded Community Health Worker initiatives. She returned to the Albany County Department of Health in 2015 as Commissioner of the Department, a position she remained in until late 2023. She led the department’s staff to achieve National Public Health Accreditation in 2019 and led pandemic response throughout the COVID pandemic.
Dr. Whalen is the recipient of numerous awards for leadership from the American Heart Association, Whitney Young Federally qualified Health center and the State University of New York at Albany, among others. Most recently, Dr. Whalen pursued and obtained an additional medical board certification in Lifestyle Medicine, a medical specialty that uses evidence based therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat and reverse chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
Dr. Whalen is passionate about advancing tenants of Lifestyle Medicine with a focus on health equity and reduction of health disparities at the population health level.