Alice T. Chen, M.D.

Alice T. Chen, MD is a board-certified internal medicine physician and a national leader in physician advocacy, community organizing, and public health. 

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Dr. Chen helped found and served as Executive Director of Doctors for America, a grassroots organization of thousands of physicians and medical students in all 50 states who advocate for policies to improve the lives of their patients. Under her leadership, the organization played an important role in the passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, federal funding for gun violence research, protection of reproductive health, and other issues – all while training hundreds of physicians and medical students in advocacy and leadership.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Chen was Senior Advisor to Made to Save, providing strategic and public health leadership to a national COVID-19 vaccine public outreach and equity campaign. Over 18 months, the campaign built a coalition of 1600 partner organizations across diverse sectors, provided nearly $7 million in funding and wraparound services to 110 community-based organizations serving hardest-hit communities of color, trained thousands of vaccine ambassadors, and helped shrink equity gaps in vaccine uptake. Dr. Chen’s series of pandemic updates garnered 1.5 million views on YouTube.

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Dr. Chen has become a leader in climate change and health. She serves as board chair of Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) – a leading voice in the healthcare sector, advancing environmental health, sustainability, and equity in the U.S. and globally. Working with hospital leadership, doctors, and nurses, as well as the broader health and environmental communities, HCWH advances climate-smart healthcare policies and business models that amplify healthcare’s trusted voice and expertise.

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Dr. Chen serves on the Advisory Council of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, which organizes major medical societies and state clinician climate advocacy groups to raise public awareness of the health threat posed by climate change.  She also serves on the advisory board of Accelerate Resilience L.A. (ARLA), which envisions Los Angeles as a climate-resilient region that is safer, healthier, and more prepared for our increasingly dangerous climate reality. ARLA engages in capacity building, cross-sector collaboration, and community engagement to advance multi-benefit approaches that are key to developing individual and collective climate resilience.

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Dr. Chen is a public health advisor to Roon, a venture-backed startup that is building a trusted guide for health online for everyone with short-form videos by vetted health experts across a variety of health conditions.  She serves on the Board of Governors of the RAND Graduate School of Public Policy. She previously served as a Hauser Visiting Leader at the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership. 

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Dr. Chen received her undergraduate degree from Yale, a medical degree from Cornell, and trained in internal medicine at UCLA. She has served on the faculty of both UCLA and George Washington Schools of Medicine, where she cared for patients as a hospitalist.  She currently practices primary care at Mary’s Center, a federally qualified health center.

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She lives with her husband, Dr. Vivek Murthy, and their two children in Washington DC.