Palak Raval-Nelson, Ph.D., M.P.H., is Health Commissioner for the Department of Public Health. Dr. Raval-Nelson has worked for the department since 1996 when she began her career as a public health sanitarian. Prior to her appointment as Health Commissioner in 2024, she served as Deputy Health Commissioner. This followed her tenure as a supervisor, manager, administrator, and director of Environmental Health Services.

Dr. Raval-Nelson also serves as adjunct faculty at Drexel University’s School of Public Health and Temple University. She teaches environmental and occupational health, as well as vulnerable populations and the environment. She has presented many papers at NEHA, PPHA, and APHA, and has had several publications in the National Journal of Environmental Health. In 2008, she published her first book, Breast Cancer Politics: An Evaluation of the Current Funding Policies. She has graduated from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute.

Dr. Raval-Nelson has her B.S. in Biology from Temple University, her M.P.H. from MCP Hahnemann University (graduating with the distinguished Hiega Society Award), and her Ph.D. in environmental health and policy from Drexel University. She is a member of the Delta Omega National Public Health Honor Society. She was recognized in 2006 by the Society of Women Environmental Professionals as an outstanding woman environmental professional for the Delaware Valley.

Dr. Raval-Nelson is deeply committed on working with vulnerable populations and being a voice for marginalized communities to ensure equity and environment justice. She has been a civil servant for 28 years and believes in helping people.