7 of the United States' Most Influential Physicians Today (2024)

Medically Reviewed By William C. Lloyd III, MD, FACS

— Written By Allie Lemco Toren

Updated on August 3, 2023

• We live in exciting times when it comes to medical innovation and discovery. Today, many cancers can be treated as a chronic disease, some autoimmune disorders can be managed by popping a pill, and many Americans can receive excellent medical care by talking to their doctors on their smartphones.

  Plus, more doctors than ever are building a public presence and sharing their expert perspectives with the American public. From federally-appointed medical directors to prolific bloggers, here are some of the most influential physicians in the United States today.
  

• 1

  Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH

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  Dr. Mandy Cohen succeeds Dr. Rochelle Walensky as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Cohen is a board-certified internal medicine physician with a long resume serving in public health roles. Prior to her role at the CDC, she served as the secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services from 2017 - 2021, during which she led the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In her earlier career she served in the Obama administration as Chief Operating Officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Dr. Cohen is a graduate of the Yale School of Medicine. She’ll be tasked with rebuilding the CDC from the inside and restoring the public’s trust in the institution, whose reputation was badly tarnished during the pandemic.

• 2

  Vivek Murthy, MD

  

  Dr. Vivek Murthy serves as the 21st US Surgeon General under the Biden administration, a position he previously held during the Obama administration as well. In his public role, Dr. Murthy is dedicated to raising awareness of a variety of public health issues including the youth mental health crisis, the spread of medical misinformation online, burnout and well-being among the US healthcare workforce, and the detrimental effects of social isolation. Dr. Murthy has over one million followers on Twitter, where he actively engages in a national dialogue on public health. Dr. Murthy lives in Washington D.C. with his wife and two children.

• 3

  Sanjay Gupta, MD

  

  Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon, has become a household name since his start as a medical reporter for CNN in 2001. Now CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, the multiple Emmy Award-winning surgeon also serves as an associate professor of neurosurgery at Emory University Hospital and associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. A man of many talents, his accolades range across the spectrum. In addition to many awards for his humanitarian work through the years, in 2019, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the top honors in his field. To top things off, back in 2003, Dr. Gupta was named one of PEOPLE magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive,” and in 2021, he served as temporary host of "Jeopardy!"
  

• 4

  Jeanne Marrazzo, MD

  

  Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo has been named the Director of the NIH’s Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a position famously held by Dr. Anthony Fauci for 38 years, until he stepped down in December 2022. Dr. Marrazzo will oversee the NIAID’s $6 billion budget which supports research into the diagnosis and treatment of infectious, immunologic and allergic diseases. Dr. Marrazzo previously served as the Director of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has been actively involved in research for many years, with an interest in the human microbiome, as well as women’s health, sexual health and HIV prevention.
  

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• 5

  Atul Gawande, MD, MPH

  

  For 20 years, Dr. Atul Gawande has worked as a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and served as a professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School. But working at one of America’s top hospitals and teaching at two of the highest-ranked health programs in the US wasn’t enough; he’s also the founder and chairman of Ariadne Labs, a center for innovation in health systems; chairman of Lifebox, a nonprofit that aims to make surgery safer all over the world; staff writer for The New Yorker magazine; and author of four New York Times bestselling books. More recently, he co-founded CIC Health, which operates COVID-19 testing and vaccination services across the country, and he served as a member of the Biden transition COVID-19 advisory board.
  

• 6

  Anthony Fauci, MD

  

  In December 2022, Dr. Anthony Fauci stepped down from a 38-year tenure as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Fauci is considered the country’s leading expert on infectious diseases. He gained worldwide recognition as America's leading voice during the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s led federal initiatives to fight novel viruses, including HIV, SARS, the H1N1 pandemic, MERS, and Ebola throughout his career. Dr. Fauci has served under seven presidents and is known for his ability to explain complicated scientific concepts calmly, concisely, and clearly.
  

• 7

  Mark Hyman, MD

  

  A board-certified internist, Dr. Mark Hyman is one of the country’s most well-known promoters of functional medicine. Dedicated to understanding and treating the root causes of chronic illness, Dr. Hyman serves as the head of strategy and innovation at the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine; he’s also the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center, board president for clinical affairs at the Institute for Functional Medicine, host of the leading health podcast, The Doctor's Pharmacy, and a 14-time New York Times bestselling author.