Biden names Indian-American Dr Vivek Murthy as surgeon general

US president-elect Joe Biden has named Indian-American Dr Vivek Murthy as the next surgeon general, reports said.

UK-born Dr Murthy held that post during the Obama administration, but had to leave abruptly during the Trump administration.

Dr Murthy,43, is one of the three co-chairs of the Biden's Covid-19 advisory board.

“Vivek Murthy, a former US surgeon general, has been asked to reprise the role in an expanded version in the new administration,” The Washington Post reported.

The surgeon general serves a four-year term and is the top government official on public health issues.

Dr Murthy will be part of a team of health-care officials charged with tackling Covid-19.

He was earlier appointed as the surgeon general on December 15, 2014, after being approved by a 51-43 Senate vote. He was relieved of his duties on April 21, 2017, by president Donald Trump.

Another co-chair of the advisory board, Jeff Zients, is set to serve as the White House's Covid-19 coordinator, the report further said.

Dr Murthy was a hospitalist attending physician and instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School, a position he has held since 2006.

He has been the co-founder and chairman of the board of TrialNetworks, formerly known as Epernicus, since 2007. He co-founded VISIONS Worldwide in 1995, a non-profit organisation focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the US.

He is also the co-founder and president of Doctors for America.

Dr Murthy attended Harvard University and graduated in 1997 with a bachelor of arts in biochemical sciences. He earned an MD degree from Yale School of Medicine and an MBA from Yale School of Management.

He was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire to immigrants from Karnataka, India. In 1978, the family moved to Newfoundland, where his father worked as a district medical officer. When he was three years old, the family relocated to Miami, and his parents established their medical practice there.