Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute Appoints New President

CANTON — Point32Health, the parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, announced that Dr. Emily Oken has been appointed the new president of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute following a nationwide search. As part of her new role, Oken will also serve as chair of Harvard Medical School’s Department of Population Medicine at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.

“Dr. Oken’s exemplary record of accomplishments, coupled with her astute knowledge of public-health issues, make her the perfect fit to lead the institute,” said Dr. Glenn Pomerantz, chief medical officer at Point32Health. “I am thrilled to work more closely with Dr. Oken in this new capacity, and I am confident she will help us address the pressing health issues we face as a country today, especially those related to health equity.”

Oken joined the institute as a faculty member in 2003, having previously served as a fellow. She has served as vice chair of the institute’s Department of Population Medicine and director of the Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse since 2016. She completed her medical education and training at Harvard Medical School, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. She is a professor of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.

Dr. Oken succeeds Dr. Richard Platt, who is stepping down after leading the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute for more than 20 years. Platt will remain as an active faculty member, researcher, and director of the institute’s division of Therapeutics Research and Infectious Disease Epidemiology.