Dr. Alaigh was serving as executive medical director for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield when she was nominated by Gov. Chris Christie on Jan. 27, 2010 as commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services.

Dr. Alaigh has a multifaceted background in health care administration, clinical practice, pharmaceutical medicine, health care policy and academia. 

At Horizon, Dr. Alaigh was the executive medical director responsible for quality, care management, medical policy, clinical outcome study and member advocacy. Before joining Horizon, Dr. Alaigh served as national medical director for GlaxoSmithKline, where she worked to improve health care technology use, reduce health care disparities and improve access to care for the uninsured.

She also worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Lyons and as an assistant professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick. 

A board certified internist with a specialty in vascular diseases, Dr. Alaigh is licensed to practice in New Jersey and New York and is certified as a Diplomate in Internal Medicine. She earned her medical degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. She received a Master of Science in Healthcare Policy and Management from SUNY. She is certified as a Black Belt in Six Sigma.

She also is a founding member of the South Asian Total Healthcare Initiative, which was created in 2009 to develop a research-based data resource on South Asian health, to improve the delivery of culturally competent care, and to address health disparities and empower the South Asian community.