Duane Caneva, MD, MS
Dr. Duane Caneva, MD, MS is the Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), appointed by President Trump in April 2018 to serve as the principal advisor to the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary for Countering WMD, the FEMA Administrator, and DHS senior leadership on medical and public health issues related to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters.
His more than 30 years in Federal Service range from the tactical to strategic in national security. He previously served DHS as the Senior Medical Advisor to Customs and Border Protection, advising leadership on the health and welfare of the 40,000 agents and officers of CBP, the health and welfare of detainees in CBP care and custody, and as the Medical Director for over 1000 emergency medical technicians. He served two separate details to the White House National Security Council as Director for Medical Preparedness Policy, overseeing policy development and implementation on national biodefense, health sector preparedness, defense of agriculture and food, and chemical defense. He also served at the U.S. Department of State, providing medical support as part of the protective detail that accompanies the Secretary of State during overseas travel, and providing medical training to U.S. embassies and consulates
Dr. Caneva entered federal civil service following a distinguished 23-year career in the U.S. Navy, with tours of duty including Director of Emergency Preparedness on the staff of the Navy Surgeon General; deployment as Head of the Shock Trauma Platoon at Fallujah Surgical, Camp Fallujah, Iraq; Head of Emergency Medicine at US Naval Hospital Okinawa, Japan; and operational tours assigned to the U.S. Marines Chemical, Biological Incident Response Force, Naval Special Warfare, and Navy submarine forces. He completed his emergency medicine residency training at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego and obtained his MD degree from the University of Chicago. He also holds a Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College.
