Since joining the Texas Medical Center in 2014, Garson has focused on collaborative policy solutions that improve the health of those in Texas, the U.S. and beyond. He is also currently professor of management, policy and community health at The University of Texas School of Public Health.

Before TMC, Garson served as the University of Virginia’s director of the Center for Health Policy, professor of public health sciences and public policy, executive vice president and provost and vice president and dean of the School of Medicine (2002 – 2014). While there, he also founded the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.

Garson graduated from Princeton University in 1970 (Phi Beta Kappa, Summa Cum Laude) and received his M.D. from Duke University in 1974 (Alpha Omega Alpha), remaining at Duke for pediatric residency through 1976. After a pediatric cardiology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine, he became Baylor’s chief of pediatric cardiology in 1988.  In 1992, he received a master’s in public health from The University of Texas and joined the faculty of Duke University, serving as associate vice chancellor for health affairs, medical director of government relations for the Medical Center and professor at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy.

In 1995, he returned to Baylor to become dean for academic operations, later joining Texas Children’s Hospital as vice president of quality. In addition to serving as president of the American College of Cardiology (1999-2000) and as a faculty member of the Children’s Hospital in Paris, Garson has been a visiting professor at more than 200 institutions. He is the author of over 450 publications, including eight books and a monthly Houston Chronicle health care column.

His appointments and elections include the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and chair of the Workforce Committee of the American College of Cardiology. In addition, he has been awarded Health Statesman of the Year (Health Access Texas, 2007) and the keys to the city of Parma, Italy.

Garson’s government engagements include Special Consultant in Health Programs and Policy for the Texas Department of Health, Chair of the Texas Health Care Information Council’s Subcommittee on Outcomes Reporting, Chair of the North Carolina Health Planning Commission Committee, and Chair of the Healthcare Programs and Workforce subcommittees of Virginia’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Insurance. He has also served on the White House panel on Health Policy and helped originate and draft the “Health Partnership Act,” a bill involving coverage improvements for the uninsured.

In 2010, he created the Grand-Aides program, an innovative telemedicine care model that was awarded one of the Top 3 innovations by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Innovation Exchange. Grand-Aides was placed into Texas Medicaid law in 2012 and is currently in operation in 11 states and under development in 14 countries. In addition to working with more than 30 U.S. institutions and health plans, Dr. Garson has consulted with health ministers in Bangladesh, Canada, Ireland, Panama, France, Australia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Spain and the UK.