Susan Blank

Colleagues & Benefactors:

Douglas Diekema Andrew Freedman

Member of:

AAP Circumcision Task Force 2012

Associates with:

American Academy of Pediatrics

Susan Blank, MD, MPH is the Chairwoman of the 2012 AAP Task force on Circumcision. The Task force released new policy statement on circumcision on August 27, 2012.

She has worked at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene since 1992. She is affiliated with the CDC and works at the DOHMH as an assignee from the Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention at the CDC. Currently she is the Director and Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of STD Control. She appears to be convinced of the medical advantages of circumcision.

"There's no argument that the trials that have been done are really compelling," says Susan Blank, chairwoman of the academy's task force on neonatal circumcision. "That is just one piece in the discussion of circumcision." The academy's panel also includes experts on urinary-tract infections, ethics and health-care finance among others, she says.(119)

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Circumcision Decreases Risk of Contracting STDs, Study Says, Wall Street Journal (Mar 26, 2009)

"This statement really is not neutral. There is clear evidence that supports the health benefits of male circumcision.

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Community Radio for Northern Colorado, Pediatricians Decide Boys Are Better Off Circumcised Than Not (Aug 31, 2012)

Blank was an Assistant Commissioner at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene at the time that a mohel was believed to have infected three infants with herpes after performing mouth suction on their penis wounds. One of those infants died and another was believed to have brain damage. Thomas R. Frieden also worked at DOHMH at the time. It appears that Blank helped do research for the letter that Frieden later published as "An Open Letter to the Jewish Community", in response to these events.