Ellen Semonoff in 2004.

Ellen Semonoff, the city’s assistant city manager for Human Services, has been named to President Barack Obama’s Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health.

“Our nation will be greatly served by the talent and expertise these individuals bring to their new roles,” Obama said in a press release of Semonoff and the 24 others making up the panel. “I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

The panel, made up mainly of health professionals, is to offer policy and program recommendations to the National Prevention Council and advise them on effective, science-based prevention and health promotion practices, the White House said.

The work will not take Semonoff away from her role with the city, where she also serves as vice chairwoman of the board of Cambridge Health Alliance. She has also been deputy director of the city’s Department of Human Services and assistant to the city manager and worked for the state as coordinator of employment services in the its Department of Employment and Training. Earlier in her career, she practiced law at Hill & Barlow, clerked for Chief Judge Frank Kaufman in the U.S. District Court in Maryland, Judge Spottswood Robinson III in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

“Ellen has been a valued member of my team for many years,” City Manager Robert W. Healy said. “Her work promoting health and human services in the local community will be further enhanced by her participation in this very important federal health initiative.”

Dennis Keefe, chief executive of Cambridge Health Alliance, said Semonoff was “well-suited” for the new position.

“Her knowledge, expertise, and compassion have helped us sustain our critical community health mission, and those same characteristics will make her an invaluable asset to the president as he seeks to improve the health of all Americans,” Keefe said.

This post was written from a press release.