David Michaels, Ph.D.

David Michaels, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health and Epidemiology at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington DC. He served as US Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health from 2009 to January 2017, and was the longest serving administrator in OSHA’s history. He was a member of the Biden Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board.

During the Clinton Administration, Dr. Michaels served as US Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety, and Health, charged with protecting the workers, community, and environment around the nation’s nuclear weapons facilities. In that position, he was the chief architect of the historic initiative to compensate nuclear weapons workers who were sickened by radiation, beryllium, and other toxic exposures.

Much of his research focuses on protecting the integrity of the science underpinning public health, safety, and environmental protections. On this topic, he is the author of The Triumph of Doubt: Dark Money and the Science of Deception (Oxford University Press 2020) called “a tour de force” by the journal Science and “a brave and important book, raising the alarm about the systemic corruption of science” by the journal Nature; and Doubt is their Product (Oxford University Press 2008).