The White House announced Thursday that President Barack Obama intends to nominate Vivek Hallegere Murthy, co-founder and president of Doctors for America and a Boston-area physician, to be the next surgeon general.

Murthy is an attending physician and instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School. In 2009, he helped found Doctors for America, a national organization of physicians and medical students working in support of health reform and improving access to affordable, high quality care for all.

“We congratulate Dr. Vivek Murthy on his nomination to be the next surgeon general of the United States,” said Doctors for America Executive Director Alice Chen in a statement. “He has a tremendous dedication and commitment to improving the lives and health of Americans.

“He brings two decades of experience as a champion in improving health, building coalitions, and bringing diverse people together to bring better health to communities. We are confident Dr. Murthy will be an extraordinary leader for the nation and for improving the health of all Americans as surgeon general.”

According to the White House announcement, in 2011 Murthy was appointed to serve as a member of the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health, created under the Affordable Care Act. He has also been the co-founder and chairman of the Board of TrialNetworks, formerly known as Epernicus, and co-founder of VISIONS Worldwide, a nonprofit organization focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the United States.

Murthy’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. If approved, he will serve as the nation’s 19th surgeon general, succeeding Regina Benjamin, who stepped down in July, and head up the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

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