Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute Appoints New President

Emily Oken, MD, MPH, to serve as third leader since Harvard Medical School’s Department of Population Medicine founding in 1992

Canton, Mass., January 11, 2024 — Point32Health, the parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, today announced that Emily Oken, MD, MPH, has been appointed the new president of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, following a nation-wide search. As part of her new role, Dr. 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 Glenn Pomerantz, MD, 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.”

Dr. 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 (CoRAL) since 2016. She is a physician trained in internal medicine and pediatrics recognized for her leadership of a large NIH-funded portfolio of life course research. She has led educational programs in clinical epidemiology and chronic disease research, and has led national and international efforts to improve maternal and child health. Dr. Oken 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 Richard Platt, MD, MSc, who is stepping down after leading the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute for more than 20 years. Dr. Platt will remain as an active faculty member, researcher, and director of the Institute’s division of Therapeutics Research and Infectious Disease Epidemiology (TIDE).

About the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute’s Department of Population Medicine
The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute’s Department of Population Medicine is a unique collaboration between Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Harvard Medical School. Created in 1992, it is the first appointing medical school department in the United States based in a health plan. The Institute focuses on improving health care delivery and population health through innovative research and education, in partnership with health plans, delivery systems, and public health agencies. Point32Health is the parent company of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan.

About Point32Health
Point32Health is a leading not-for-profit health and wellbeing organization, delivering a better health care experience to our members and the communities we serve.  One of the top twenty health plans in the United States, Point32Health builds on the quality of our founding organizations, Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care.

At Point32Health, we believe that everyone should have equitable access to affordable, high-quality health care, regardless of their age, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, orientation, gender identity or ability.  We offer a diverse range of health plans that help improve the health and wellness of the 1.9 million members we serve.  Every day, we work to deliver on our purpose of guiding and empowering healthier lives for everyone.

We are proud that our Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Commercial Combined HMO and POS plans in Massachusetts and Maine, our Exchange HMO plans in Massachusetts and Maine, as well as Tufts Health Plan’s Medicaid and Exchange HMO plans, have received full Health Equity Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).*

*NCQA’s Health Equity Accreditation program