Former CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen and Public Health Leader Dr. Vin Gupta will strengthen the Firm’s health care business, policy, strategy and advisory capabilities
WASHINGTON, D.C. and SAN FRANCISCO, March 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, a multidisciplinary, integrated professional services firm, today announced the arrivals of National Advisor Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, and Managing Director Vin Gupta, MD, MPA to the Firm’s Health Care group. The additions of Drs. Cohen and Gupta will fortify the Firm’s consulting and legal offerings for clients across state government, life sciences, digital health, health systems and health purchasers.
Dr. Cohen, the former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and former Secretary of Health and Human Services for North Carolina, brings her extensive government and health sector leadership experience to Manatt. With a focus on state health transformation and use of data and technology to improve care, she is an essential resource for clients navigating care delivery and payment innovations, integration of artificial intelligence (AI), changes affecting Medicaid, and those looking for guidance on public health strategy and communications.
“I want to use everything I’ve learned over the course of my career to continue to help make our world a healthier, safer place, especially as we navigate the new frontier of AI and changes at the federal and state levels,” said Dr. Cohen. “I look forward to working with Manatt’s brilliant roster of professionals to advise clients on challenges and opportunities across the health sector and beyond.”
Dr. Gupta, a notable public health leader and technologist who serves as a medical analyst for NBC News, was formerly a Chief Medical Officer at Amazon Health for nearly six years. In his new role at Manatt, he will lead a diverse portfolio across health innovation. This will include (1) working with top universities to help found the nation’s next set of medical schools, with a focus on technology integration in the education of providers from Day 1, (2) leading efforts to help scale hospital-at-home programs for health systems nationwide and (3) launching services for large organizations (private employers, unions, sports leagues) nationwide focused on providing accurate health information to members and employees.
“The collaboration, entrepreneurial spirit and focus on scaled impact made Manatt an ideal fit,” said Dr. Gupta. “Organizations across the spectrum of health are facing unprecedented challenges, which afford new opportunities for real change, whether it is in medical education, hospital-at-home or public health communications. The Manatt team is world class, and I am thrilled to get to work on helping to solve some of the country’s biggest problems in health care.”
Bringing sophisticated leadership experiences from some of the most important corners of the industry, Drs. Cohen and Gupta will deepen Manatt’s work with clients ranging from digital health and life sciences innovators to states and providers at the front lines of care delivery. Their arrival also complements Manatt's expanding bench of professionals providing go-to-market, content development, social media, investor relations and communications counsel, as seen recently with the arrivals of digital health strategists Christina Farr and Tom Cassels.
“With unparalleled backgrounds, Mandy and Vin reflect the core tenets we look for at Manatt with real on-the-ground perspectives that clients cannot find elsewhere,” said Manatt CEO and Managing Partner Donna L. Wilson. “Mandy and Vin’s experiences uniquely position them at the intersection of our consulting, policy and technology offerings and will bring immediate value to our clients across our entire platform, ranging from health care entities to professional sports, unions and other large employers.”
“As politics and technology upend the health care industry, Manatt’s unique hybrid legal and consulting model continues to provide clients with the 360-degree perspectives and solutions they need to make informed business decisions in uncertain times,” said Manatt Health Leader Bill Bernstein. “When it comes to public health and information dissemination, the time is now for our clients to implement proactive strategies and fill the growing whitespace with credible and reliable information at scale—Mandy and Vin will be invaluable to our efforts in expanding these capabilities.”
Drs. Cohen and Gupta will continue to grow Manatt’s capabilities in public health and strategic communication by building out a multidisciplinary service offering to meet the many health and wellness communications needs of companies that first became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Informed by Manatt’s work in policy and digital health, this new offering will provide strategic guidance and timely, actionable information for employers and their employees across a range of health and wellness issues to ensure high workforce engagement and productivity.
Prior to joining Manatt, Dr. Cohen was the Director of the CDC, where she led the public health agency of 12,000 employees in protecting health and improving lives around the globe. She focused on investing in core capabilities, including the workforce, laboratories, data systems and rapid response and implementing lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, like clear communications and breaking down silos within the CDC and throughout public health and health care. Dr. Cohen also led the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and transformed the North Carolina Medicaid program to managed care with a focus on value and “whole person health”, launching the country’s first statewide platform integrating social services with health care delivery. Dr. Cohen has held notable leadership positions at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, including chief operations officer and chief of staff. She was also chief executive officer and executive vice president at the nation’s largest physician-led accountable care organization.
Previously, Dr. Gupta served as a chief medical officer at Amazon, where he worked across the company on a range of strategic health initiatives, including Amazon Pharmacy and the Healthcare and Life Sciences division at Amazon Web Services since 2020. He currently serves in several roles across health care, including as an affiliate faculty at the University of Washington School of Medicine, a practicing pulmonologist, Major in the United States Air Force Medical Reserves Corps and as a medical analyst for NBC News, discussing public health and providing analyses on current medical news. Dr. Gupta is on the board of the American Lung Association, HIMSS and serves as a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dr. Cohen earned her M.D. from Yale School of Medicine, M.P.H. from Harvard T.H. Chain School of Public Health and B.S. from Cornell University.
Dr. Gupta earned his M.P.A. from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, M.S. from University of Cambridge, M.D. from Columbia University and B.A. from Princeton University.
About Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, is a leading professional services firm, providing integrated legal and consulting services to a global client base. With offices strategically located in California (Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento and Silicon Valley), New York (New York City and Albany), Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Boston, the Firm represents sophisticated clients—including Fortune 500, middle-market and emerging companies—across a range of industry sectors such as health care; financial services; entertainment; digital and technology; and energy, environmental and real estate. For more information, visit www.manatt.com.
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