Dr. Boris Lushniak promoted to assistant surgeon general and rear admiral (04/16/06)

Dr. Boris Lushniak promoted to assistant surgeon general and rear admiral

WASHINGTON - Dr. Boris D. Lushniak, M.D., M.P.H., assistant commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and captain in the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service (PHS), on April 3 was promoted to the rank of assistant surgeon general and rear admiral by direction of the surgeon general, Vice Admiral Richard Carmona.

"I am delighted at this recognition of Dr. Lushniak's unique combination of professionalism, training, leadership and experience," said Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach, the acting commissioner of food and drugs. "His continued service as FDA's assistant commissioner, counterterrorism policy, and as a flag officer of the PHS, is an important asset for our agency and the public health."

Rear Adm. Lushniak joined the FDA in March 2004 as the chief medical officer, office of Counterterrorism Policy and Planning in the Office of the FDA Commissioner, and was promoted to assistant commissioner in May 2005.

He came to the FDA after a 16-year career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), where he served as a senior medical officer with the Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Rear Adm. Lushniak began his PHS career as a lieutenant in CDC's Epidemic Intelligence Service, and has developed expertise in counterterrorism activities, disaster response, medical epidemiology and occupational skin diseases.

He has worked on assignments in Russia, Kosovo and Bangladesh; was part of the CDC/NIOSH team at Ground Zero in New York City; served as part of the CDC anthrax team in Washington, and was a PHS team leader in the Hurricane Katrina response.

Dr. Lushniak has been awarded numerous PHS awards, including the Outstanding Service Medal, the Commendation Medal, two Achievement Medals, two Outstanding Unit Citations and eight Unit Commendations.

Dr. Lushniak earned his medical degree at Northwestern University, and he has a master's degree in public health (MPH) from Harvard University. He is board certified by the American Board of Family Practice, the American Board of Preventive Medicine (Occupational) and the American Board of Dermatology.

The official promotion ceremony for Dr. Lushniak is slated to take place within six to eight weeks.

Roots in Chicago's Ukrainian community

A native of Chicago and the son of post-war immigrants from Ukraine, Dr. Lushniak resides in Rockville, Md., with his wife, Patricia Cusumano, M.D., and two daughters, Larissa, 8, and Stephanie, 6.

Dr. Lushniak, son of Mykola and Olha Lushniak, is a graduate of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic School in Chicago, as well as of St. Nicholas Ukrainian School (the local school of Ukrainian studies), both affiliated with St. Nicholas Cathedral, where he was a parishioner.

He is an active member of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization who served as a counselor at numeous camps in Wisconsin and New York, and he is a member of the Orden Khrestonostsiv Plast fraternity.

Dr. Lushniak was a member of the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Project's medical committee in 1993-2004 and traveled to Kharkiv as part of the official Cincinnati delegation in 1995.

During the summers of 1992 and 1993 both Dr. Lushniak and Dr. Cusumano were volunteer physicians with the Medical Clinic on Wheels in Ternopil, Ukraine.

Dr. Lushniak is a member of The Washington Group and the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America.

The PHS Commissioned Corps

The PHS Commissioned Corps, one of the seven uniformed services of the United States (the others being Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and officers in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), is a specialized service of health professionals who may be assigned to federal, state or local agencies or international organizations to accomplish its mission.

The mission of the PHS is dedicated to protecting, promoting and advancing the health and safety of the nation through the rapid and effective response to public health needs, leadership and excellence in public health, and the advancement of public health science.

The PHS provides highly trained and mobile health professionals who carry out programs to promote the health of the nation, understand and prevent disease and injury, assure safe and effective drugs and medical devices, deliver health services to federal beneficiaries, and furnish health expertise in time of war or other national or international emergencies. PHS officers work around the world to help in times of disaster and to provide day-to-day health care for underserved populations in the United States.

The history of the U.S. Public Health Service dates back to 1798, when it was chartered by Congress during the presidency of John Adams. It was originally known as the Marine Hospital Service, and its mission was to provide health care for U.S. sailors who were sick, injured, disabled or destitute.

Today the PHS Commissioned Corps is a uniformed service of 6,000 active-duty officers, all of whom are medical professionals trained to respond rapidly to hazards and disasters of all kinds. The corps includes physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, environmental health scientists, dietitians, mental health specialists, veterinarians and epidemiologists.

The leader of the Commissioned Corps is the surgeon general, Vice Adm. Carmona, a surgeon and public health physician with decades of hands-on experience in emergency medical response management. Vice Adm. Carmona is also a decorated combat veteran who served in Vietnam as a member of the U.S. Army's Special Forces. In 2002 President George W. Bush selected him to serve as the nation's 17th surgeon general.

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