Biosketch:
Dr. Bassett joined the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in 2002 to head its newly established Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. As Deputy Commissioner, she oversees the bureaus of Chronic Disease, Tobacco Control, School Health, Minority Health, and Maternal Infant and Reproductive Health, as well as a network of District Public Health offices devoted to improving health conditions in low-income neighborhoods. She and her team have forged innovative and at times controversial strategies to reduce tobacco use, promote safer, healthier foods and combat obesity.

Before joining the Health Department, Dr. Bassett was Associate Director of the Health Equity unit of the Rockefeller Foundation. She was based in Southern Africa, where for 17 years she worked at the University of Zimbabwe. Originally from New York City, she is a graduate of Harvard and Columbia Universities and completed her medical training at Harlem Hospital Center. She has published extensively and serves as an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Public Health.

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