Anthony L. Komaroff
Quick Facts
Biography
Anthony L. Komaroff (born June 7, 1941 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American physician, clinical investigator, editor and publisher.
Biography
Anthony L. (Tony) Komaroff was raised in Los Angeles, California. He attended college at Stanford University, and medical school at the University of Washington in Seattle. Following medical school, he attended Harvard Medical School for training in internal medicine, and then joined the faculty.
Dr. Komaroff was the Director of the Division of General Medicine and Primary Care at Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston MA, from 1982–1997, and built one of the world’s renowned academic general medicine units. From 1982-1987, he was the vice president for management systems of Brigham and Women's Hospital. From 1997 through January 2015, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Health Publications Division (HHP) of Harvard Medical School, the division responsible for publishing all of the School's health information for the general public—books, newsletters, Internet content and doctors' office information. The information is published in multiple languages, in countries around the world.
He has published over 230 research articles and book chapters, and two books. His publications cover the development of clinical algorithms, cost-effectiveness analyses of primary care practices, clinical research on common respiratory and urinary infections, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Dr. Komaroff also has published research on human herpesvirus 6. He also served as editor of the autobiographies of two biomedical scientists, Nobel Laureates Joseph E. Murray and Thomas H. Weller.
Dr. Komaroff was the Editor in Chief of the best-selling book, the Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide; is the founding editor of NEJM Journal Watch, a publication of the New England Journal of Medicine; is the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Health Letter, a newsletter from Harvard Medical School for the general public; and from 2011-December 2016 was the author of a daily newspaper column, Ask Doctor K, that was syndicated by United Media and appeared in over 400 newspapers in North America. In these publications, he describes the latest developments in biological science and medical research to both practicing health professionals and the general public
Currently, Dr. Komaroff serves as the Distinguished Simcox-Clifford-Higby Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Senior Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Honors
- Elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Physicians, and the Association for Health Services Research.
- Served on advisory committees for the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Surgeon General of the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences.
- Currently a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the HHV-6 Foundation.