Health Systems and Population Health

Research Interests

Public health practice; communicable disease epidemiology; health informatics

Bio

Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett is the Washington Department of Health’s Chief Science Officer. In this role he serves as the Department of Health’s primary science expert and a key spokesperson on public health issues. Tao joined the Department of Health in the fall of 2021, bringing a broad background in medicine and public health. He has more than a decade of experience practicing primary care pediatrics in Seattle, including work with refugee and immigrant communities.

Tao also worked for several years as a communicable disease medical epidemiologist at Public Health – Seattle and King County before joining the faculty at the University of Washington School of Public Health, where he served as Director of the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice and helped lead the Northwest Public Health-Primary Care Leadership Institute. At the Department of Health, Tao leads the Executive Office of Health and Science that uses public health expertise in medical and veterinary sciences, epidemiologic methods, and communicable diseases to improve the health of all people in Washington state.

PUBLICATIONS

Education

MD Harvard University, 1991
MPH University of Washington, 1998
AB Engineering, Harvard University, 1986

Academic Programs and Affiliations

• Northwest Center for Public Health Practice