CNN's Sanjay Gupta Tops Obama Shortlist For Surgeon General

January 7, 2009 8:40 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - CNN's chief health correspondent Sanjay Gupta, who is also associate chief of neurosurgery at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, is being vetted by the President-elect Barack Obama's transition team for the post of surgeon general, CNN said on Wednesday.

"Since first learning that Dr. Gupta was under consideration for the surgeon general position, CNN has made sure that his on-air reporting has been on health and wellness matters and not on health-care policy or any matters involving the new administration," the network said in a statement.

Gupta, 39, is best known for his program,'House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta,' and appearances in several shows, including 'Anderson Cooper 360.' He writes a weekly column in Time magazine and is assistant professor of neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine.

He worked as a White House fellow in 1997 and was a special adviser to Hillary Clinton when she was first lady.