On Monday, May 12 at 1:00 p.m. UConn Health’s 54th Commencement address will be delivered by Manisha Juthani, MD, the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH). Juthani will share her keynote address with the graduating Class of 2025’s medical, dental, and graduate students at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts in Storrs.
“As Connecticut’s No. 1 public health leader, an infectious disease expert, and Commissioner of the CT Department of Public Health, Commissioner Juthani is an inspiration to our graduates as they enter the healthcare workforce, especially those educated in our robust public health graduate program,” said Dr. Bruce T. Liang, MD, dean of UConn School of Medicine.
“Thank you Dr. Juthani for your strong public service to Connecticut and also as a dedicated member of the UConn Health Board of Directors,” said Barbara E. Kream, Ph.D. associate dean of The UConn Graduate School programs at UConn Health and professor of Medicine and Genetics and Genome Sciences.
Juthani is the first Indian American to serve as a commissioner in the State of Connecticut. She served as professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine through September 2024 and currently serves as an adjunct professor of medicine. She served as Director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program from 2012 to 2021. Juthani received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and M.D. from Cornell University Medical College, completed Internal Medicine residency training at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell campus, and served as chief resident at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. She came to Connecticut in 2002 as an Infectious Diseases fellow at Yale School of Medicine.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Juthani was a leader in the COVID response at Yale which led to her appointment as Commissioner of CT DPH in 2021. In the early days of the pandemic, she was a voice to help educate the public in both local and national media outlets, a role she was able to expand in her role as Commissioner. Upon joining CT DPH, she helped guide Connecticut out of the pandemic and worked to revitalize areas of public health, such as gun violence, maternal health, opioid use, and sexually transmitted diseases, that were exacerbated during the pandemic.
As she continues in her role as DPH Commissioner, Juthani has shifted her core vision to “Preserve and Protect Core Public Health Principles and Services.” As Connecticut is presented with new public health challenges, she remains committed to preserving public health achievements made over the years, including improvements in regulatory oversight in healthcare, drinking water, and environmental health which includes food safety. It is more important than ever to highlight the importance of vaccines, control of infectious diseases, road safety, and healthier mothers and babies. Clear, accurate communication about public health risks is vital to her mission. She continues to advocate for health as a human right which is the core vision of CT DPH.
“I am honored to welcome the next generation of professionals that will care for Connecticut residents and beyond, in both the healthcare and public health fields. UConn Health has trained each of these graduates well to protect and improve the lives of the people throughout the country,” stated Juthani who also is on the Board of Directors of UConn Health.
Watch the livestream of UConn Health’s Commencement on Monday, May 12 at 1:00 p.m.
