Jennifer Avegno

Jennifer Avegno, MD, has served as the director of the New Orleans Department of Health since 2018. She is a New Orleans native who received her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Arts in Sociology from Tulane University, and her MD from Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Medicine – New Orleans.  She completed her residency at LSU/Charity Hospital Emergency Medicine and joined the faculty at both LSU and Tulane shortly after graduation, where she served as Associate Residency Director and Director of Undergraduate Emergency Medicine Education for both medical schools. In 2017, she established the Division of Community Health Relations & Engagement in the LSU Section of Emergency Medicine, and as its director worked with institutional, governmental, and other community organizations to facilitate innovative programming, interdisciplinary partnerships, and improved population health outcomes. Her clinical, program, and research interests include the role of social determinants of health, particularly access and barriers to care; health equity; violence intervention/prevention; sexual assault and human trafficking; and homelessness.