Susan Blumenthal, M.D.

Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. provided distinguished service for over twenty years as a leading national U.S. government health expert and spokesperson. She served as Assistant Surgeon General of the United States, as the first ever Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women's Health, and as Senior Global and E-Health Advisor in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She also was a White House advisor on health issues. Dr Blumenthal has served as the top medical advisor to the Secretary of the US Department of Agriculture, and as Chief of the Behavioral Medicine and Basic Prevention Research Branch at the National Institutes of Health. She is currently a Senior Fellow in Health Policy at the New America Foundation, a Clinical Professor at Georgetown and Tufts Schools of Medicine, and Chair of the Global Health Program at the Meridian International Center . Additionally, Dr. Blumenthal serves as the Senior Policy and Medical Advisor at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. She has also been the Director of the Health and Medicine Program at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress where she co-chaired its 64 member Health Commission, the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Women's Studies at Brandeis University, a Visiting Professor at the Mayo Clinic and Stanford University in Washington and a Fellow at Harvard University's School of Government. A champion for improving health, Admiral Blumenthal has done pioneering work in advancing women's health bringing these issues to increased scientific and public attention. An international leader in advancing global health, she has been a major force in the response to emerging disease threats including obesity, the chronic disease epidemic, mental illness, cancer, AIDS, suicide and violence prevention, pandemic flu, and bioterrorism. Admiral Blumenthal has been at the forefront of national efforts to achieve effectiveness, efficiency and equity in the US health care system and to emphasize the power of prevention. She has been a pioneer in internet medicine establishing several of the government's leading, award winning health websites. Dr. Blumenthal has chaired numerous national and international health commissions, committees and conferences. She served as the host and medical director of an award winning television series on health and as the health columnist for US News and World Report and Elle magazines. Dr. Blumenthal has been on the Board of Directors of several philanthropic and educational institutions including Save the Children, Stanford in Washington and the Meridian International Center.

Named by the Medical Herald and the National Library of Medicine as one of the most influential and important women in medicine and by the New York Times as one of the top doctors in the women's health field, Admiral Blumenthal is the recipient of numerous awards, medals and honorary doctorates for her landmark contributions to improving health. She was named the 2009 Health Leader of the Year by the Commissioned Officers Association, its highest honor, as the Rosalind Franklin Centennial Life in Discovery Award Recipient, and as a Rock Star of Science by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation.