book headshot Alex Jahangir by Susan Urmy

Alex Jahangir

Alex Jahangir is still a practicing orthopedic surgeon, as he always was, except now he gets recognized in public almost every day. As the former head of Mayor John Cooper’s COVID-19 task force, he’s a familiar face to Nashvillians. He was the one giving us COVID-19 updates on TV and via the internet throughout the city’s “Safer at Home” order and beyond. 

In his new book Hot Spot: A Doctor’s Diary From the Pandemic, Jahangir gives his account, expanding on his notes with the help of Katie Seigenthaler. As the face of the city’s COVID-19 response, Jahangir details criticism he caught, including the ways in which he butted heads with the now former Metro Board of Health director Michael Caldwell, and his frustrations when politics got in the way of the city’s and state’s reactions to the pandemic.