Chief Medical Officer Umair A. Shah, MD, MPH is a results-oriented physician executive recognized for leading health system modernization at the intersection of public health, healthcare delivery, and technology. With experience spanning global, national, state, and local systems, he brings a rare ability to translate innovation into practical, scalable impact across complex health ecosystems, working effectively across both Republican- and Democratic-led administrations.
Dr. Shah most recently served as Secretary of Health for Washington State (2020-2025), where he led a $3 billion organization serving 8 million residents and helped position the state among the nation’s healthiest. His leadership emphasized digital transformation, data-driven decision-making, and public-private collaboration, contributing to one of the lowest COVID-19 mortality rates in the country despite Washington being home to the nation’s first confirmed case.
In Washington, Dr. Shah launched nationally recognized initiatives advancing health data modernization, emergency preparedness, health and wellness, and applied AI. He championed partnerships with leading technology and private-sector organizations including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Costco, Starbucks, and the Gates Foundation, and led an AWS-supported COVID-19 testing and distribution model that significantly outperformed the federal approach. Under his leadership, the agency earned national recognition for innovation in digital health and communications.
Prior to relocating to the Pacific Northwest, Dr. Shah led the health agency for Harris County, Texas, the nation’s third-largest county, advancing health for 5 million residents across numerous large-scale crises, including hurricanes, infectious disease outbreaks, chemical incidents, and mass casualty events. He strengthened connections between healthcare systems, community-based services, and public health infrastructure. Concurrently, he spent two decades as an emergency physician at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, grounding his leadership in frontline clinical care serving our nation’s veterans. Trained in primary care, Dr. Shah brings a rare combination of experience spanning clinic-based, hospital, acute, and emergency care.
In addition to his role at Jaan Health, Dr. Shah is the founder of Rickshaw Health, where he has advised governments, health systems, and organizations on population health strategy, AI-enabled innovation, and transformational change. He holds faculty appointments across leading academic institutions, including Columbia University, the University of Washington, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Texas Health Science Center. His perspective is further informed by early work in international health policy, including an internship at the World Health Organization in Geneva.
Dr. Shah earned a BA in philosophy from Vanderbilt University and an MD from the University of Toledo Health Science Center. He completed his internal medicine residency, primary care fellowship, and an MPH in management and policy sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
Dr. Shah is widely recognized for building innovative, mission-driven teams while advancing modern and complex health systems. He has held national leadership roles with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Trust for America’s Health; APHA; ASTHO; and NACCHO, where he served as president representing more than 3,000 local health agencies nationwide. His honors include the prestigious Roemer Prize for innovation in public health practice, and in 2025 he was appointed to the CDC Advisory Committee to the Director.
His career reflects a consistent focus on bridging public and private sectors, aligning technology with mission, delivering results at scale, and championing health and wellness while never losing sight of the importance of a people- and patient-centered approach. He believes strongly that health happens not only within the healthcare system, but in the communities that surround it. Throughout his career, Dr. Shah has stepped into moments of crisis and calamity, grounding his leadership in protecting communities and safeguarding people when it has mattered most.
