Robert Newman

Robert is a pediatrician with more than 25 years of experience in global health and development as a leader, manager, policy maker, epidemiologist, program implementer, researcher, and clinician. He has particular interests in malaria, HIV, TB, immunizations, NCDs, health systems development and transition, maternal-child health, health security, and One Health. He has worked extensively in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Prior to joining the Aspen Institute, Dr. Newman was Vice President and Global Head for Tuberculosis (TB) at Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health, where he led efforts to achieve of a world free of the burden of TB. From 2015-2017, he served as the Country Director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Cambodia, overseeing activities related to HIV and AIDS, TB, health security, outbreak response, health systems strengthening and capacity building. From 2009-2014, Dr. Newman served as Director of the Global Malaria Program at the World Health Organization, where he launched major global initiatives to increase malaria diagnostic testing, combat antimalarial drug resistance, and prevent the spread of insecticide resistance. He subsequently served as Managing Director for Policy and Performance at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, where he oversaw organizational strategy setting, performance metrics, market shaping, policy development, business planning, monitoring and evaluation, and risk management. He previously spent 9 years in the Malaria Branch at CDC, including serving as the CDC team lead for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative from 2006 to 2009.

Dr. Newman received his BA in English Literature from Williams College, his MD from Johns Hopkins University, and his MPH from the University of Washington. He completed his residency in Pediatrics at the University of Washington-Seattle Children’s Hospital in 1996, where he stayed on to complete a National Research Service Award fellowship in General Pediatrics in 1998. In addition to his current role, Dr. Newman is a Senior Associate in Global Health Policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Member of the Board on Life Sciences at the National Academy of Sciences, Clinical Professor of Global Health at the University of Washington, and serves on the Board of Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) in Geneva. He has published 69 peer-reviewed articles in the field of infectious diseases.