David L. Lakey Dr. Lakey serves as Commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, leading one of the state’s largest agencies with a staff of 11,500 and an annual budget of $2.5 billion. Dr. Lakey became Commissioner on January 2, 2007, and he oversees programs such as disease prevention and bioterrorism preparedness, family and community health services, and environmental and consumer safety as well as regulatory programs and mental health and substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. Prior to becoming Commissioner, Dr. Lakey served as an Associate Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of Clinical Infectious Disease, and Medical Director of the Center for Pulmonary and Infectious Disease Control at the University of Texas Health Center in Tyler. He had been a faculty member there since 1998. At the UT Center for Biosecurity and Public Health Preparedness, Dr. Lakey served as Associate Director for Infectious Disease and Biosecurity. He also chaired a bioterrorism preparedness committee for 34 hospitals in East Texas and led the development of the Public Health Laboratory of East Texas in 2002. He earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry, graduating with high honors from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, IN, and he received his medical degree with honors from Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Lakey was a resident in internal medicine and pediatric medicine, and he completed a fellowship in adult and pediatric infectious disease at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. He is board certified in Infectious Disease and Pediatric Infectious Disease. Previous • Next Speaker Bio |