India-born Rahul Gupta confirmed as Director of National Drug Control Policy by US

Washington: The United States Senate on Thursday (local time) confirmed Dr Rahul Gupta to serve as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy on a bipartisan basis, White House said in a statement.

According to the statement, Gupta is the first medical doctor to ever lead the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

"As a practicing physician and former health official who has served in rural communities, I have seen firsthand the heartbreaking toll of addiction and overdose in our communities, but I have also seen how we can save lives if we understand the individuals behind the statistics and meet them where they are," said Dr. Gupta.

"President Biden has made clear that addressing addiction and the overdose epidemic is an urgent priority. As Director, I will diligently work to advance high-quality, data-driven strategies to make our communities healthier and safer."

Rahul Gupta, MD, MPH, MBA, FACP, most recently served as the Chief Medical and Health Officer, Interim Chief Science Officer and Senior Vice President at March of Dimes.

In his role, Dr. Gupta provided strategic oversight for March of Dimes' domestic and global medical and public health efforts.

He recently served as clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine as well as adjunct professor in the Department of Health Policy, Management and Leadership in the School of Public Health at West Virginia University and visiting faculty at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the statement said.

A national and global thought leader and a driver of innovative public policies on health issues, Dr. Gupta serves as an advisor to several organizations and task forces on local, national and international public health policy.

The son of an Indian diplomat, Rahul was born in India and grew up in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. At age 21, he completed medical school at the University of Delhi. He earned a master's degree in public health from the University of Alabama-Birmingham and a global master's of business administration degree from the London School of Business and Finance.

He is married to Dr. Seema Gupta, a physician in the Veterans Administration for over a decade. They are the proud parents of identical twin sons, Arka and Drew.