WASHINGTON >> President Barack Obama is nominating a Harvard Medical School physician as the nation’s next surgeon general.

Dr. Vivek Hallegere Murthy is co-founder and president of Doctors for America, an organization that says its mission is to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, high quality health care. He also started a nonprofit that focused on HIV/AIDS education in India and the United States.

The surgeon general serves for a four-year term and is the nation’s top spokesperson on public health issues. If confirmed by the Senate, Murthy would replace acting Surgeon General Boris Lushniak.