The waning office of the surgeon general - customarily the US top spokesman on matters of public health - may get a higher profile, with President-elect Barack Obama having picked Dr. Sanjay Gupta for the post. According to the Washington Post's online service - washingtonpost. com - Gupta wants the job he has been offered, and is going through final checks.

Gupta, who grew up in Michigan and studied at the University of Michigan, would possibly the most distinguished surgeon general. Only only is he a practicing neurosurgeon, and a professor at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Emory University Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital, he is also CNN's chief medical correspondent.

Incidentally, it was Gupta who analyzed the health of the presidential candidates in an October special report, 'Fit to Lead.'

Gupta was embedded with a Navy medical unit when the Iraq war began. In 2004, after the tsunami in South Asia, he covered the health crisis in Sri Lanka, and when Hurricane Katrina struck, he was at Charity Hospital in New Orleans for many days.

Moreover, during the 1990s, Gupta served as a White House fellow - he was a special adviser to Hillary Clinton, wrote speeches and helped the First lady formulate policies. In fact, Gupta is paid for speaking engagements and, according to the All American Talent and Celebrity Network, his speaking fees ranges between $30,001 and $50,000!

And now, if he becomes the surgeon general, Gupta would be leading the 6,000-member commissioned corps of the US Public Health Service.