About

Boris D. Lushniak, MD, MPH, is the Dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, leading the institution since 2017. He has developed new academic programs, launched a global health initiative, and provided leadership during the global coronavirus pandemic. His background includes a long and distinguished career in federal service, culminating in roles as U.S. deputy surgeon general from 2010 to 2015 and acting surgeon general from 2013 to 2014. He retired as a Rear Admiral from the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps after 27 years of service. His contributions include responding to the devastation at Ground Zero after 9/11, serving as the FDA Deputy Incident Commander for the 2009 H1N1 pandemic response, and leading the USPHS hospital in Liberia providing care to Ebola patients in 2015. Prior to his current role, he served as professor and chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics and as a professor of Dermatology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Dr. Lushniak's educational background includes a B.S. and M.D. from Northwestern University, an MPH from Harvard University, and a dermatology residency at the University of Cincinnati. He maintains certifications in dermatology and preventive medicine and is actively engaged in promoting social justice, global health, and public health initiatives.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Medical education
• Environmental health
• Public economics
• Family medicine
• Psychiatry
• Business
• Economics
• Physical medicine and rehabilitation
• Pathology
• Gerontology
• Psychology
• Risk analysis (engineering)
• Public relations

Selected publications

• National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Physical Activity and Health for Wheelchair Users

  UNC Libraries · 2025-09-26 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Appropriate for the Protection of the Public Health: Why We Need Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Product Standards

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Analysis of FDA’s Vuse market authorisation: limitations and opportunities

  Tobacco Control · 2023-02-09 · 6 citations

  editorialSenior author

  This special communication provides a physicians' critique of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s decision to authorise the Vuse Solo (Vuse) Premarket Tobacco Application (PMTA). The PMTA authorisation represents the first time that FDA has authorised an Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) for marketing in the USA. Using the FDA Decision Summary, the special communication identifies significant unanswered public health and scientific questions that prevent the authors from reaching FDA's conclusion that Vuse meets the Appropriate for the Protection of the Public Health (APPH) standard. The authors recommend FDA suspend the market authorisation and use these questions to re-evaluate the PMTA, and to prospectively monitor whether Vuse meets APPH standard. The special communication advances the ENDS harm reduction conversation because it calls for national tobacco regulators to develop an epidemiological prediction of ENDS impact on the population and to expand the scope of their analysis to evaluate the impacts of ENDS on congenital birth defects, abuse liability and non-flavour drivers of youth usage. Through learning from the American experience regulating Vuse, national tobacco regulators around the globe will be better equipped to evaluate the impact of ENDS on the public health.

  PublisherDOI

• Organizational Culture and Staffing Models at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• The Power of Prevention: Prevention and Preparedness in Public Health

  American Journal of Preventive Medicine · 2022-03-16 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Public Health Is Local

  Forefront Group · 2022-12-01 · 2 citations

  dataset

  Authors examine challenges that local health departments face and offer solutions to help focus their mission as early detectors and intervenors, more clearly delineate their roles amongst state and federal partners, and strategically assess multiple pathways for program execution (this is a follow up to their article earlier this year.

  PublisherDOI

• COVID-19 Caught the World Unprepared

  Difficult decisions in surgery: an evidence-based approach · 2022-01-01 · 2 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Why We Need User Fees for Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Products

  JAMA Health Forum · 2022-04-15

  articleOpen access

  This Viewpoint reviews recent challenges in electronic nicotine delivery system product regulation and the potential benefit of modeling product user fees after pharmaceutical product and device user fees.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Financing Preventive Medicine Graduate Medical Education

  Journal of Public Health Management and Practice · 2021-03-31 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  Financing US preventive medicine residency programs has been a persistently difficult issue. The unique nature of preventive medicine renders training more burdensome and costly than other specialties. This article describes the numerous and varied federal sources of Graduate Medical Education funding to outline available residency financing options for the specialty of preventive medicine. This information could be utilized by various preventive medicine organizations in their efforts to strengthen the specialty.

  PublisherDOI

• National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Physical Activity and Health for Wheelchair Users

  Archives of Rehabilitation Research and Clinical Translation · 2021 · 16 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Medicine
  • Medical education

  Health benefits of physical activity are well recognized in the general population for reducing the risk of chronic health conditions. Less is known about the effects of physical activity on people currently using or who may use wheeled mobility devices in the future, specifically individuals with multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord injury who are at increased likelihood for use of a wheeled mobility device. On December 1-3, 2020, the National Institutes of Health convened the Pathways to Prevention workshop: "Can Physical Activity Improve the Health of Wheelchair Users?" to consider the available scientific evidence on the clinical benefits and harms of physical activity for people currently using or who may use wheeled mobility devices in the future, with the aim of developing recommendations to fill gaps in the evidence base. A multidisciplinary team of content area experts developed the agenda and an evidence-based practice center prepared the evidence report. An independent panel, selected by the National Institutes of Health, attended the workshop; convened to develop recommendations on the basis of the systematic review, presentations, and public comments received during the workshop; and revised recommendations based on public comments received. This final report summarizes the panel's findings and identifies current gaps in knowledge. The panel made recommendations for new research efforts, including novel methods and new research infrastructure to improve the evidence base about the effects of physical activity on people currently using or who may use wheeled mobility devices in the future.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• David J. Smith

  University of South Florida

  49 shared

• Joel C. Gaydos

  Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

  49 shared

• Timothy M. Mallon

  Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

  49 shared

• Paul Jung

  Friedrich Schiller University Jena

  20 shared

• James S. Taylor

  Cleveland Clinic

  20 shared

• Earl J. Rudner

  Henry Ford Hospital

  17 shared

• Joel D. Kaufman

  University of Washington

  17 shared

• Marcus M. Key

  Dickinson College

  17 shared

Awards & honors

• Heidelberg University, Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris cau…
• Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Colonel George W. Hu…
• Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society (Faculty/Alumni indu…
• Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health (Faculty induc…
• Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Distinguished Speake…