Obama names two Indian-Americans to his team

US President Barack Obama has named two Indian-Americans - Vivek Murthy and Islam Siddiqui - to his administration, the White House said.

Murthy has been appointed as member of the advisory group on Prevention, Health, Promotion and Integrative and Public Health. Siddiqui would be Obama's Chief Agricultural Negotiator. "Our nation will be greatly served by the talent and expertise these individuals bring to their new roles. I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead," Obama said in a statement after announcing his intention to appoint Murthy to the key Administration post along with 13 others.

Murthy is an attending physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School, where he is an internal medicine hospitalist. He is co-founder and President of Doctors for America, a grassroots organization of over 15,000 doctors and medical students in 50

states who are working to build a better health care system for all Americans. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of Epernicus, LLC, a privately-held company that builds social networking platforms for scientific institutions and clinical trials.

Murthy has lectured widely on health care reform and physician advocacy. His writings and research have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Science, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and The Washington Post. Murthy received a B A from Harvard University, an M.D. from the Yale School of Medicine, and an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management.

On Wednesday, Obama also sent to the US Senate his intent to re-nominate Siddiqui to be his Chief Agricultural Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador. He was nominated for the first time in September last year.