Photo courtesy of Geisinger Research.

Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo has named Dr. Nirav R. Shah as the new Commissioner of Health for New York .  This will place him as the head of the State Department of Health – an agency with an annual budget of over $50 billion.

Shah is a Buffalo native who currently works as an internist at Bellevue Hospital Center, associate investigator at the Geisinger Center for Health Research and assistant professor at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Shah’s work in information technology, comparative effectiveness, and evidence-based medicine has earned him much praise for advancing innovative models for care delivery and public health.

Pending approval of the nomination, Shah will be replacing Dr. Richard Daines.

To learn more, here are a few selected articles from around the web:

• “Choice of health chief applauded” – Albany Times Union (12/18/10)
• “Buffalo native Shah selected for state’s top health post” – Buffalo News (12/17/10)