AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) Maine’s state health department said it has hired a policy specialist to lead its new office that will address health disparities in the state.

Ian Yaffe will be the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Population Health Equity. He currently works as the chief operating officer of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 Social Supports Program.

State health commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said Yaffe has a track record of building relationships between the state and communities that experience health disparities.

She said Yaffe will now “lead our vital work to reduce inequities in Maine’s health care and public health systems by addressing the underlying problems that contribute to these disparities.”

Yaffe’s new role will include leading interventions designed to support racial and ethnic populations, LGBTQ residents and people with disabilities, the health department said in a statement.