International soccer fans spent the spring wondering whether France, Spain, or maybe Argentina could win the FIFA World Cup. Philip Huang, MD, spent the past few months monitoring Dallas’ medical surveillance systems to make sure thousands of those supporters, many coming from international destinations, stay safe in Texas.
Some of the World Cup’s biggest matches will be played in Houston and Dallas this summer. From analyzing wastewater throughout Dallas County or inside the international terminal at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to ensuring there are enough cooling stations at fan events, the 42-year Texas Medical Association member told Texas Medicine the state’s medical community is ready for its global sporting close-up.
As Dallas’ top public health official, Dr. Huang is prepared for yet another huge moment where public health officials rally together to keep the public safe. “There’s more preparation up front, but it’s obviously a big thing for all of us with so many people in our community coming from all over the world,” Dr. Huang said. “We’ve all seen through these different events that it’s all about working together.”
As director of the Dallas County Health and Human Services, Dr. Huang has faced all sorts of public health issues throughout his distinguished career. The longtime leader in infectious disease and chronic disease prevention has spent his career at the intersection of government and organized medicine. For that work, he received the American Medical Association’s Award for Outstanding Government Service on Feb. 25 at the AMA’s National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C.
Since joining the city of Dallas in February 2019, Dr. Huang has “strengthened public health infrastructure, addressed chronic disease and HIV, and led efforts to modernize the county’s public health data systems,” the AMA said in announcing the honor.
Before taking the Dallas County post, Dr. Huang logged 16 years with the Texas Department of State Health Services and 11 more serving as health authority and medical director at the Austin Public Health Department. He went on to become Dallas’ leading public health voice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“His decades of experience in public health have ensured that science, data-driven policy, and community engagement remain at the center of local health leadership,” AMA Board Chair David H. Aizuss, MD, said in a statement.
Making Texas healthier
Growing up in Dallas, Dr. Huang first found his passion in music. He played the trumpet and served as a student conductor for the Lake Highlands High School band and orchestra. He’s long been intrigued with magic and used to perform at Cub Scout banquets and birthday parties.
Much to his parents’ relief, Dr. Huang joked, he went into medicine. He studied at UT Southwestern Medical School and, during his final year, went on a one-year international medical expedition in Nepal. He went on to finish his residency at Austin’s Brackenridge Hospital and earn a master’s degree in public health from Harvard University.
Dr. Huang later spent time with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an epidemic intelligence service officer and then came to Austin.
Back in Texas, Dr. Huang has enjoyed a front-row seat for some of medicine’s biggest challenges. From Ebola preparedness, the COVID-19 response, or sustaining the basic infrastructure of public health, he aimed to reinforce public health throughout his career, not just conduct abstract policy debates. They were decisions that directly affected patients and communities.
“Health isn’t just clinical medicine,” he said. “It’s also public health. We’ve all seen through these different events that it’s all about working together.”
Dr. Huang has also played a vital role at the Texas Capitol, testifying before the legislature on vaccination policy, funding for the state health department, and smoke-free ordinances, a personal passion. Having testified at more than 40 city council hearings in support of those ordinances, Dr. Huang is still frustrated that Texas lacks a comprehensive statewide smoking ban but makes clear that organized medicine’s support mattered to current regulations.
“Restaurant and bar owners were saying they’re going to go out of business, and they don’t,” Dr. Huang said. He remembers looking at Texas comptroller data after smoke-free bans went in place and “how the [restaurant and bar] revenues were not adversely impacted or sometimes went up.
Looking back, Dr. Huang still can’t believe what an epic fight it was to settle a 1998 lawsuit with the tobacco industry over smoking-related health care costs for a record $15.3 billion.
“We’re trying to do things that will make our communities safer, and the people who are living in them will have healthy lives,” he said.
Past and future impact
Dr. Huang’s vantage point within government service also gave him a clear view of TMA’s advocacy muscle and physician impact serving as the chair of TMA’s Committee on Infectious Diseases and as a member of the Council on Science and Public Health. “[TMA] was such an important organization for everything we were doing with public health in Texas, especially when I was at the state level,” he said.
Dr. Huang has no intention of slowing down, remaining deeply rooted in Texas and in TMA’s orbit. He’s monitoring the use of artificial intelligence and how it affects physicians’ day-to-day work, and he’s inspiring next-generation physicians as an adjunct faculty member at UT Southwestern Medical Center’s O’Donnell School of Public Health and UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.
“I was just in a meeting and people were asking, ‘Are some of the youth and students discouraged about going into medicine?’” he said. “What’s inspiring is these kids; they seem to be more motivated. They see the value of making an impact. These youth do more community service than prior generations. They seem to really care about making an impact.”
The AMA honor wasn’t designed to be a career capstone. Dr. Huang still has plenty of goals and wants TMA to continue as medicine’s driving force.
“Anything that I’m honored for is just representing all the people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with,” Dr. Huang said. “I’ve worked with great people in Texas at all levels in my career and history. It’s not me. Everything is all about working together. There are a lot of people behind whatever I’ve done.”