PNHP

Adam Gaffney, MD, MPH

Adam Gaffney, MD, MPH

Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

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Dr. Adam Gaffney. is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, a pulmonary and critical care physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a health policy researcher, and a writer and commentator on issues of medicine and policy.

His research focuses on national health care reform, health care equity, and disparities in lung health. Dr. Gaffney has authored or co-authored more than 60 journal articles, with first-author publications in such journals as the Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal, JAMA Internal Medicine, Health Affairs, the American Journal of Public Health, and elsewhere. He is also the author of the book “To Heal Humankind: The Right to Health in History,” published in 2017 by Routledge.

A past-president of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), Dr. Gaffney is also a frequent writer on matters of health care and policy, and has published articles in outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, New Republic, USA Today, and the Boston Globe. He is also a frequent media guest, and has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, Fox Business News, the BBC, and elsewhere.

Dr. Gaffney received his medical degree from New York University and his MPH from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He completed his residency at the Columbia University Medical Center, where he served as chief resident, and his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Sherif Emil, MD, CM, FRCSC, FACS, FAAP

Sherif Emil, MD, CM, FRCSC, FACS, FAAP

Pediatric Surgery

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Dr. Sherif Emil is the Mirella and Lino Saputo Foundation Chair in Pediatric Surgical Education and Patient and Family-Centered Care in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where he also serves as associate chair for education in the Department of Pediatric Surgery. Since 2008, Dr. Emil has served as the director of the Harvey E. Beardmore Division of Pediatric Surgery at The Montreal Children’s Hospital. He is the founding director of Canada’s first multidisciplinary Chest Wall Anomalies Center at the Shriners Hospital for Children, Canada, and is the pediatric surgery specialty consultant for Mercy Ships International. Dr. Emil served as the founding chair of the Canadian Consortium for Research in Pediatric Surgery (CanCORPS) from 2018 to 2023. 

Dr. Emil was born in Cairo, Egypt, and grew up in several developing countries, where his parents practiced as physicians. He earned his medical degree from McGill University, and his surgical residency at Loma Linda University in California. After completing his pediatric surgery fellowship at McGill, he returned to California in 2001 to join the surgical faculty at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where he led the Division of Pediatric Surgery from 2005 to 2008. 

Dr. Emil has published more than 150 articles and chapters on pediatric surgery. In 2020, he published Clinical Pediatric Surgery: A Case-Based Interactive Approach. In 2012, Dr. Emil was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor General of Canada for his service to children around the world and his academic accomplishments in pediatric surgery. In 2023, he was awarded the Montreal Children’s Hospital Award of Excellence in Leadership, an award presented approximately once every decade to an exceptional leader.

Andrew D. Coates, MD, FACP

Andrew D. Coates, MD, FACP

Internal Medicine

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Dr. Andy Coates is a past president of Physicians for a National Health Program, chief of hospital medicine at Samaritan Hospital in Troy, New York, and an assistant professor of medicine and psychiatry at Albany Medical College. Board certified in internal medicine as well as hospice and palliative care medicine, Dr. Coates graduated from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Coates is a co-founder of the Capital District chapter of PNHP and founder of Single Payer New York. He previously served on the statewide executive board of the Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO. He provides commentary on WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Diljeet K. Singh, MD, DrPH

Diljeet K. Singh, MD, DrPH

Gynecologic Oncology

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Dr. Diljeet Singh is a women’s health advocate, an integrative gynecologic oncologist, and the vice president of Physicians for a National Health Program. Dr. Singh received her medical degree from Northwestern University and her master’s degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed an obstetrics and gynecology residency at Johns Hopkins and a gynecologic oncology fellowship at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. She completed her doctoral degree in public health on cost analysis at the University of Texas School of Public Health and an associate fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona.

Robert L. Zarr, MD, MPH

Robert L. Zarr, MD, MPH

Pediatrics

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Dr. Robert Zarr is a physician researcher and public health pediatrician based at Unity Health Care, Inc. and Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Canada. He has provided medical care to minority and immigrant populations for more than 20 years.

A longtime advocate for Medicare for All, Dr. Zarr served as PNHP president from 2015 through 2016. He founded and was the first medical director of Park Rx America, a community health initiative to prescribe nature to patients and families to prevent and treat chronic disease and promote wellness. A certified nature and forest therapy guide, Dr. Zarr previously served as the Park Rx Advisor to the National Park Service in his national advocacy to connect patients to parks.

Dr. Zarr earned his medical degree at Baylor University and his MPH at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, and completed residency in pediatrics at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor.

Oliver T. Fein, MD, FACP

Oliver T. Fein, MD, FACP

Internal Medicine

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Dr. Oliver Fein is a professor of clinical medicine-emeritus at Weill Cornell Medical College,
where he is co-director of the David Rogers Health Policy Colloquium. He recently retired from
clinical practice and as associate dean responsible for the Office of Affiliations and the Office of
Global Health Education.

Dr. Fein is a past president of Physicians for a National Health Program and board chair of PNHP’s New York Metro Chapter. He is a past vice president of the American Public Health Association, where he served for four years on the executive board.

Much of Dr. Fein’s work has focused on health system delivery reform and access to care for
vulnerable populations. His writings include a chapter in the book “10 Excellent Reasons for National Health Care”; an article on ethical issues and global health in Academic Medicine; an editorial in Medical Care; and an article on U.S. health care reform and the presidential candidates in the Journal of Health Services Research and Policy.

Dr. Fein received his medical degree from Western Reserve University, and completed
his internship at Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital and his residency at Lincoln Hospital
in the Bronx. He then became director of general medicine outpatient services at the
Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and subsequently acting-director of the division of
general medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. Dr. Fein was a Robert Wood Johnson health policy fellow in 1993-1994, where he worked as a legislative assistant for the Senate Democratic Majority Leader.

Dr. Fein received the Haven Emerson Award from the Public Health Association of New York
City in 2001; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy
Fellowship Program in 2008; the David Calkins Award for Health Policy Advocacy from the
Society of General Internal Medicine; and the Sedgwick Memorial Medal for Distinguished
Service from the American Public Health Association in 2021.

Walter H. Tsou, MD, MPH

Walter H. Tsou, MD, MPH

Internal Medicine, Public Health

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Dr. Walter Tsou is a past president of the American Public Health Association and former health commissioner of Philadelphia. He is a founding member of the National Board of Public Health Examiners and a board adviser to Physicians for a National Health Program. An expert on health reform and health care financing, he frequently briefs members of Congress on health care issues.

Dr. Tsou is a contributing editor of Physician’s News Digest and Pennsylvania Medicine. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Public Health Recognition Award from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Leadership Award from the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council, and the Broad Street Pump Award from Physicians for Social Responsibility. He was named Practitioner of the Year by the Philadelphia County Medical Society in 2001.

Dr. Tsou received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania and his master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. He holds an honorary doctorate in medical sciences from Drexel University.