Meena Seshamani

Meena Seshamani (born 1977 or 1978) is an American public official and surgeon who has served as the Maryland Secretary of Health since 2025. She previously served as the deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from 2021 to 2025.

Early life and education Seshamani was born in 1977 or 1978. Her parents were Mani and Rama Seshamani. Raised in Warren Township, New Jersey, she graduated from the Pingry School in three years, afterwards attending Brown University, where she graduated with honors and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in business economics, and the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a Doctor of Medicine degree. She then completed her medical residency training at Johns Hopkins University, where she was a surgeon specializing in head and neck surgery and conducted research on health economics, afterwards graduating as a Marshall Scholar from the University of Oxford with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in health economics.

Career Seshamani was an assistant professor of otolaryngology at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Seshamani later joined the Biden administration, advising the administration on its COVID-19 response before ultimately being appointed to serve as the deputy administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in July 2021.

Maryland Secretary of Health

In February 2025, Maryland Governor Wes Moore named Seshamani as the next Maryland Secretary of Health, succeeding Laura Herrera Scott, who resigned at the end of the month. Seshamani took office on April 8, 2025.

During her tenure, Seshamani focused on prioritizing behavioral health to improve drug treatments and prevent overdose deaths in Maryland, sought to rebuild trust with the disability community after funding cuts during the 2025 legislative session, and worked to implement systems to assist individuals affected by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which made cuts to Medicaid and expanded work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. The Maryland Department of Health also made progress in addressing staffing shortages and safety complaints at the Perkins Hospital Center.

Private life Seshamani met her future husband, Craig Mullaney, when they were both students in Oxford. They married in 2005.