Captain Mahyar Mofidi appointed as the new Director of the Office of Minority Health (OMH) and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health

Captain Mofidi brings years of experience in public health leadership and will be a tremendous asset to the Office of Minority Health. Prior to this appointment, Captain Mofidi served as the Director of the Division of Community HIV/AIDS Programs at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau. In that role, he provided critical leadership and oversight of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Part C, D, and F dental programs, managing a budget of approximately $300 million to support over 600 community-based organizations. These organizations provide vital healthcare and support services to more than 500,000 individuals living with HIV, particularly from underserved racial and ethnic minority communities.

During his tenure at Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Captain Mofidi led a diverse team of 70 public health professionals, focusing on strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, and the development of innovative, data-driven solutions to advance the mission of the HIV/AIDS Bureau and work towards ending the HIV epidemic. Additionally, he served as the HIV/AIDS Bureau’s Chief Dental Officer and Senior Lead on rural health initiatives, contributing to national awareness efforts, such as World AIDS Day and HIV testing campaigns.

Before joining HRSA, Captain Mofidi held a faculty position at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Dentistry and worked as a research associate with the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC. His research focused on improving access to oral healthcare for underserved populations, as well as exploring the relationship between spirituality and depression in racially and ethnically diverse rural communities.

Captain Mofidi holds a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Louisville and a Ph.D. in Health Behavior from the UNC School of Public Health. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in health services research at the Cecil G. Sheps Center at UNC. He is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute’s Leadership for a Democratic Society program.