David Michaels, Ph.D.

"David Michaels, PhD, MPH, is an epidemiologist and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health 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, the longest serving administrator in OSHA’s history. He was a member of the Biden Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board and is currently engaged in work on ways to improve our pandemic response.

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 Science Magazine and “a brave and important book, raising the alarm about the systemic corruption of science” by Nature Magazine. "