Expert Bio

Dr. Leith States is a Wilson Center Visiting Fellow, working on a research project titled "Haiti and the Limits of Intervention: U.S. Policy, Sovereignty, and Durable Governance in the Western Hemisphere."

Dr. States is a board-certified preventive medicine physician, former Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, and former Acting Head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Across more than 16 years of federal service in military and civilian roles, he served across multiple administrations tackling complex health challenges involving medicine, public policy, national security, and diplomacy. At the Department of Health and Human Services, his work spanned behavioral health, substance use disorder, psychedelic-assisted therapy, Long COVID, environmental health, global and population health, federal innovation partnerships, and drug policy reform.

A former Navy physician, Dr. States deployed to Afghanistan as a Battalion Surgeon with the 1st Battalion 1st Marines and later served as a Preventive Medicine Officer supporting force health protection for Navy Fleet and Fleet Marine Force. Since leaving government service, he has focused on translating policy into implementation through advisory, academic, and clinical innovation roles, including as Founder and Principal of States Strategies, LLC, Senior Vice President for Strategic Military Initiatives at Sunstone Therapies, a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, and adjunct faculty at Emory University and Loma Linda University.

Wilson Center Project

Haiti and the Limits of Intervention: US Policy, Sovereignty, and Durable Governance in the Western Hemisphere