Leith States

Dr. Leith States is a board-certified preventive medicine physician and nationally recognized leader in public health strategy, regulatory reform, and behavioral health innovation. He most recently served as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Health and Acting Head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, where he led the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), a $700 million enterprise that includes 11 program offices, 10 regional health offices, the Office of the Surgeon General, and more than 5,400 uniformed officers deployed across federal agencies.

Dr. States also served as Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director of the Office of Science and Medicine within OASH, leading initiatives that spanned substance use and mental health, psychedelic-assisted therapy, traumatic brain injury care, Long COVID research, and environmental health equity. He played a leading role in implementing the Presidential directive on cannabis rescheduling, developing HHS’s interagency response, and shaping one of the most significant federal drug policy shifts in decades.

Prior to his civilian service, Dr. States served for nearly a decade as a Navy Medical Corps Officer, including combat deployment to Afghanistan as Battalion Surgeon for a Marine infantry battalion, Navy Medicine West Public Health Emergency Officer and as Officer in Charge of a Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit. A California native, Dr. States holds an MD from the UC San Diego School of Medicine, an MPH from Loma Linda University, an MBA from the George Washington University, and is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine.