Harvard-Affiliated Mass General, Brigham and Women’s Hospitals Name New Presidents

David F. M. Brown, the current chair of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School, will become the next president of MGH on Sept. 8.

Mass General Brigham, the hospital network encompassing MGH and several other local hospitals, announced Monday that it had selected Brown to succeed Harvard Medical School professor of health care policy Peter L. Slavin ’79, who announced his departure in April following 18 years of leadership at MGH. Brown is also set to serve as an Executive Vice President at Mass General Brigham.

In addition to serving as chair of emergency medicine since 2013, Brown has received multiple awards for his advancement of numerous research and educational efforts at MGH.

As chair of the Executive Committee on Teaching and Education and Mass General Brigham’s Academic Head of the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency, Brown oversaw educational initiatives for clinicians, scientists, and policy experts. Brown has also been involved with the hospital’s administrative affairs and multiple system-wide efforts, including committees on senior appointments, education, and hospital leadership searches.

Brown also has been involved with health equity initiatives, and has treated inpatients and outpatients in multiple Boston neighborhoods. He is also a co-founder and an inaugural board member of Mass General Brigham Urgent Care, which serves nine locations across the region.

Anne Klibanski, President and CEO of Mass General Brigham, noted Brown’s dedication and leadership within MGH in a press release, citing his “deep and proven commitment” and “clear vision” of the hospital’s advancement in patient-centered research and care.

Starting in December, Robert Higgins will serve as the President of Brigham and Women's Hospital and an Executive Vice President of Mass General Brigham. By Courtesy of Mass General Brigham

This announcement comes a few weeks after Brigham and Women’s Hospital named a new president, Robert S. D. Higgins, the current Surgeon-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital and director of the surgery department at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Higgins, alongside Brown, will also serve as an Executive Vice President at Mass General Brigham effective December.

Klibanski wrote in an Aug. 19 press release that Higgins is a “proven innovator” who is the “ideal choice” to lead the hospital through a prolonged public health crisis. Higgins is an established authority in heart and lung transplantation, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, and mechanical circulatory support.

Higgins will succeed Elizabeth G. “Betsy” Nabel, who left her role as Brigham and Women’s president early this year to become Executive Vice President for Strategy at ModeX Therapeutics.

—Staff writer Ariel H. Kim can be reached at ariel.kim@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Anjeli R. Macaranas can be reached at anjeli.macaranas@thecrimson.com.