Meet Tina Shah, Indian-Origin Physician Competing In New Jersey House Race

Indian-origin physician Tina Shah has entered the Democratic primary for New Jersey's 7th Congressional District. The doctor joins a crowded Democratic field seeking to unseat Republican Congressman Tom Kean Jr.

Shah, a practising intensive care doctor, has raised more than $1 million (about Rs 8.5 crore) in less than a year. She collected $1.017 million over two fundraising periods and entered 2026 with around $650,000 (about Rs 5.4 crore) in hand, according to her campaign. Her team says she is the fastest Democrat in the district to cross the $1 million mark.

She says that the current system raises healthcare costs, worsens patient outcomes, and overburdens a burned-out medical workforce, making it harder for doctors to deliver proper care.

According to information available on her website, Shah is running for Congress "to fight against Trump and Kean Jr's Medicaid cuts that give tax breaks to billionaires, and fight for the right to an abortion and the restoration of science and sanity in Washington."

Who Is Tina Shah?

• Tina Shah was born to immigrants in the United States. She is triple board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, and critical care medicine.
• Shah completed a six-year accelerated programme at Penn State University, earning a Bachelor of Science. She received her medical degree from Jefferson Health, where she also trained in internal medicine. She later completed a pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the University of Chicago and earned a Master of Public Health from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
• Early in her career, she served as a White House Fellow at the US Department of Veterans Affairs and later worked as a Senior Advisor to the US Surgeon General.
• Shah also worked in the private sector as the first Chief Clinical Officer at Abridge, a generative AI healthcare company.
• In 2018, Shah founded TNT Health Enterprises, where she continues as Chief Executive Officer.
• She currently practises as a pulmonary and critical care physician at RWJBarnabas Health.