David Peng, MD, MPH, has been named the chief clinical officer for USC. The announcement was made Aug. 2 by Steven D. Shapiro, MD, senior vice president for health affairs at USC.

Peng has previously been chair of Dermatology and the past president of USC Care. He has also taken on the role of interim chair of the Department of Medicine over the past two years.

As chief clinical officer, Peng will serve as an essential member of the senior vice president for health affairs leadership team and will work closely with the leadership of Keck Medicine of USC, the Keck School of Medicine of USC, Health Science Schools at USC and USC leadership.

“Dr. Peng is highly valued for his integrity as a physician and leader, and his commitment to the faculty, staff and trainees of the Keck School, the health system and our affiliated training partners,” Shapiro said in a statement.

Peng will oversee clinician services at USC-owned facilities, USC affiliate sites where USC physicians perform services and university-affiliated community practices.

This includes working with administration and faculty leaders to monitor and improve patient access, assist in streamlining delivery of care and in continuing to improve operational and financial performance.

Shapiro said that the goal of Peng’s work will be to promote and lead a culture of excellence and quality, including cutting-edge clinical care and innovative care delivery models. He will also coordinate and align physician services across the entire health system.

In recognition of the rapidly changing healthcare landscape, a major emphasis for Peng will be to work with his partners to develop physician partnerships, affiliation strategies and organizational re-design, developing new clinical models of value-based care based on analytics, population health and precision medicine.

With his partners in Keck Medicine and the Keck School, Peng will assist in recruitment and retention of physician talent and leadership, and in aligning incentives to support, retain and develop top talent.

Peng will also engage with the dean and other senior KSOM leaders in broad-ranging strategic and tactical decision-making about clinical affairs across service lines and at all institutions where Keck School faculty perform clinical services.

Peng received his MD from the University of California at San Diego, and his MPH at the University of California at Los Angeles, prior to his postgraduate training in Dermatology at UCSD.

—Michael Juliani