Lipi Roy, Medical Director, Housing Works, Addiction Physician, Speaker, Media Personality
Dr Lipi Roy is an internal medicine and addiction medicine physician, keynote speaker, as well as a sought-after media medical commentator. Featured in Top Doctor Magazine, Dr Roy currently serves as Medical Director of the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) Transitional Housing Sites at Housing Works in New York City.
She also serves as a clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Health and treats patients with opioid addiction at St. Ann's Corner of Harm Reduction. Dr Roy's work spans academia, clinical medicine, homeless health, social and criminal justice, public speaking and media.
As the former Chief of Addiction Medicine for Rikers Island, Dr Roy oversaw substance use treatment and recovery services at the nation's 2nd-largest jail complex.
Previously, Dr Roy was a primary care doctor for Boston's vulnerable homeless population, among whom the leading cause of death was a drug overdose. She also served as an attending physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and as faculty at Harvard Medical School. Dr Roy completed her medical and master's in public health degrees at Tulane University, followed by residency training in internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center.
Dr Roy is a strong advocate for public service, caring for incarcerated and homeless men and women, serving the underserved in Nicaragua and India, as well as treating New Orleans residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. Dr Roy has also provided medical relief to earthquake victims in Haiti and volunteered in the medical tent at the Boston, New York City and Marine Corps Marathons.
Roy is a dynamic public speaker and media personality whose mission is to educate and empower the public to make healthy decisions. She is a Forbes contributor and former MSNBC and NBC News Medical Contributor; her on-air appearances include CNN. Dr Oz, The Tamron Hall Show, Charlie Rose and CBS New York. She has been published in STAT, The Huffington Post and Psychology Today and has been featured in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, Cooking Light and Oprah.com. In addition, Dr Roy shares her medical expertise in her newsletter, website, and YouTube channel. She can be followed on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Twitter and LinkedIn, for professional purposes, are great ways to connect globally. Facebook and Instagram for personal and professional posts. Lately, TikTok for health videos.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
I'm a medical doctor with a unique perspective: an Indian female physician who has worked in homeless shelters, and jails, evacuated Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, provided medical relief to earthquake victims in Haiti, and now overseeing medical services in New York City hotels-turned-transitional housing for formerly-incarcerated men and women.
I have also been actively merging my passion for medicine with media and entertainment in order to educate and empower the public about health in three focus areas (addiction, nutrition and mindfulness). I have made over 300 live appearances on MSNBC and NBC News, speaking about all health-related aspects of COVID-19.
Right now, I am launching a YouTube Health show and writing a book. My goal is to develop and host my own health programming on television or streaming service, collaborating with entertainers (actors, musicians, comedians).
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
I feel incredibly fortunate to work as a physician, to be able to play a role in educating and empowering patients to live healthier lives. I also take my role as a physician advocate very seriously. With my platform as a medical media commentator, I believe it is important to speak out on the intersection of health equity, women's reproductive rights, and social and criminal justice. Being a doctor with a national platform is both a privilege and a responsibility I take very seriously.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
You can achieve anything you put your mind to. - Mr Sailesh Roy, my father.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
My patients. Injustice espies toward society's most vulnerable. My parents.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
Serving the underserved as a physician and public health advocate. My public speaking. Buying a home in New York City.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
In-person, but now I'm getting used to Zoom/virtual.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Ability to listen with empathy and without judgement.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Find mentors, ask questions, be resilient, and find people who will support you.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
Many people. Dr Paul Farmer. Oprah Winfrey. Barbara Corcoran.
Female activists - Jane Fonda, Malala, Gloria Steinem, Emma Watson, Angelina Jolie.
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
Playing piano, cooking, writing, exercising, spending time with family and friends, trying different restaurants and travelling.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
Positive - created many clinical and media opportunities. However, I have also experienced increased burnout as a result. But I have been actively managing.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
Yes, and yes.
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Be persistent. Ask the right questions. Be respectful of others' time. Volunteer, be an intern and be curious. Practice empathy and mindfulness.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Lack of support, lack of experience.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
When there's a will, there's away.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Partners in Health, Housing Works, Google, CDC, WHO, and others.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
Pursuing something you're passionate about. Meet new people, travel, and explore other regions (be culturally inquisitive). Keep an open mind, don't burn bridges, and just KEEP AT IT.
Never underestimate the power of ONE person. YOU can make a meaningful difference in a person's life, an elderly man with cocaine addiction, a single pregnant woman needing abortion services, a disabled man seeking employment, a teenage girl yanked out of school and forced into early marriage.