Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A.

CURRENT

Director, Health Innovations Lab
Senior Fellow in Health Policy
New America
(202-986-2700)

New America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States. New America emphasizes work that is responsive to the changing conditions and problems of our 21st Century information-age economy — an era shaped by transforming innovation and wealth creation, but also by shortened job tenures, longer life spans, mobile capital, financial imbalances and rising inequality. The foundation’s mission is animated by the American ideal that each generation will live better than the last. With an emphasis on big ideas, impartial analysis and pragmatic solutions, New America invests in programs in critical areas, bringing promising new ideas and debates to the fore.

New America’s Health Innovations Lab is engaging policy-makers, health practitioners, technologists, designers, and other experts to link and sync technological innovations to health. The goal is to accelerate fundamental changes in the way healthcare is delivered in the Digital Age. The Lab’s mission is to connect people to a seamless system of care in communities and modernize government health and nutrition programs so they deliver services in a consumer-oriented, efficient, easy-to-use and integrated way.  As Director of the Health Innovations Lab and Senior Fellow in Health Policy at New America, Dr. Blumenthal focuses on a broad spectrum of health issues including health reform, global health, women’s health, health technology and disease prevention.

She leads the 53% Initiative, which is identifying technological advances that can strengthen nutrition and improve health in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Federal food assistance program in which 53% of children in the U.S. are enrolled. In 2017, in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, she chaired a 2-day conference to reimagine what is possible for the program in the Digital Age. In spring 2021, a Capitol Hill Briefing will be convened to disseminate the final report’s findings. Additionally, Dr. Blumenthal directs the SNAP to Health project, an initiative aimed at reducing obesity and food insecurity for those participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps. The project team released a Policy Report and Executive Summary containing key recommendations. A SNAP to Health Capitol Hill Briefing was convened in July 2012 which brought together policymakers, researchers, public health practitioners, and anti-hunger advocates to address the perilous paradox of obesity and food insecurity and offer strategies to address these epidemics in America.

Under her leadership, the Health Innovations Lab is engaged with the MIT Media Lab establishing the Beat the Virus social media campaign and COVID- 19 online resource hub. Additionally, Dr. Blumenthal serves as the Public Health Director of healthPULSE, a project that is bringing together a multidisciplinary network of experts to build a novel 21st century public health communications system. These initiatives are serving as models for how public health and technology experts can and must work together to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to future health challenges.

Senior Medical and Policy Advisor
amfAR (the Foundation for AIDS Research)
(202) 331-8600

Founded in 1985, amfAR is dedicated to ending the global AIDS epidemic through innovative research. With the freedom and flexibility to respond quickly to emerging areas of scientific promise, amfAR plays a catalytic role in accelerating the pace of HIV/AIDS research and achieving real breakthroughs. amfAR-funded research has increased our understanding of HIV and has helped lay the groundwork for major advances in the study and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $250 million in its mission and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide. Dr. Blumenthal serves as Senior Medical and Policy Advisor to amfAR.

Visiting Professor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Lab

Dr. Blumenthal serves as Visiting Professor at the MIT Media Lab. She collaborates with technology and design experts and works with faculty and students to bring technology innovations to health. Dr. Blumenthal co-founded the  #BeattheVirus social media campaign and resource hub (beatthevirus.org) that is disseminating messages about the proven public health practices that must be adopted to prevent further transmission of  COVID-19. Major talent agencies have mobilized their actors and athletes to get involved with the project to amplify and disseminate coronavirus prevention public health messages. She also serves as the Public Health Director for healthPULSE, an initiative which is constructing a 21st century health communications network using the unique analytic algorithms and scaffolding from the Beat the Virus social media campaign and other tools designed by MIT Media Lab. This new communications system will disseminate evidence-based messages to combat the infodemic of misinformation that is circulating about the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Blumenthal is also a member of the Advisory Council of the MIT Media Lab.

Member of Visiting Committee
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health 

Founded in 1913 as the first professional public health training program in America, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health advances the public’s health through learning, discovery, and communication. In pursuit of this mission, the School produces knowledge through research and translates knowledge into evidence that can be communicated to the public, policymakers, and practitioners to advance the health of populations. The HSPH Visiting Committee provides informed, objective, and candid assessments of the school, as well as constructive advice on its future direction and development. Dr. Blumenthal has served on the committee for the T.H. Chan School of Public Health since 2000.

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry

Tufts University School of Medicine

Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. serves as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Georgetown University School of Medicine

Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. serves as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown School of Medicine.

Public Health Editor (2008-2019)
Huffington Post Internet Newspaper

Susan Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. serves as the Public Health Editor for the Huffington Post, an internet site for news, blogs, video and community. She also frequently writes health columns for the website.

Chair, Global Health Program (2009-2011)
Meridian International Center

Dr. Blumenthal serves as the Chair of the new Global Health Program at the Meridian International Center, a non-profit institution that promotes international understanding through the exchange of people, ideas and the arts. Established in 1960 and headquartered in Washington, DC, Meridian offers a wide array of outreach, exchanges, and arts programs. The Center educates people of all ages about global issues, connects professionals from different countries and enriches the cultural perspective of audiences across the United States and abroad. The Global Health Program convenes conferences, briefings, provides international leadership programs on health, and promotes dialogue and exchange on critical health issues and opportunities across the public and private sectors

Director, Health and Medicine Program (2006 – 2011)
Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress

The Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization founded in 1965. The Center is the only organization that systematically examines past successes and failures of the Presidency and relates its findings to present challenges and opportunities. Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. (ret) is the Director of the Health and Medicine at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, where she directs the Center’s Health and Medicine Program. This program focuses on the history of Presidential involvement in health as well as on a range of public health and science issues facing our nation and world in need of Executive Branch leadership and innovation.

In this position, she leads CSPC’s Commission on U.S. Federal Leadership in Health and Medicine: Charting Future Directions that has developed a framework of recommendations for the Administration and the American public to improve the health of people in the United States and worldwide. The Commission is comprised of experts from the health policy community, research, academia and the private sector.

Additionally, Admiral Blumenthal serves as the Director of the Palestine/Israel Health Initiative (PIHI) that has convened health experts in the region, fostering cooperation and building bridges using health as a tool for peacebuilding. PIHI has established a e-Health Commons, using the internet and new media tools, to network health professionals and also is creating the first multilingual portal in the region, healthmiddleeast.org, for comprehensive health information in Arabic, Hebrew and English. The initiative produced a brochure of its activities and a report, Peace Through Health: A Mapping of Cooperative Health Programs in Israel and Palestine.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SERVICE

For more than two decades, Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal, M.D. served in senior leadership positions within the U.S. Federal Government working as a career medical officer in the Administrations of four Presidents of the United States. She was recently decorated with the highest medal of the United States Public Health Service for “distinguished and pioneering leadership, groundbreaking contributions, and dedicated public service that has improved the health of women, our Nation and the world.” Her positions over the past 20 years include having served as:

First Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Susan Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. was appointed and served as the country’s first ever Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This – first of its kind- senior level health post was established to shine a national spotlight on women’s health. During her service in this position, national attention and Federal funding for women’s health increased dramatically. She coordinated a comprehensive national program of over $4 billion (an increase of 30% in four years) in research, policy, service delivery and education initiatives across HHS agencies (including NIH, CDC, SAMSHA, FDA, HRSA, AHQR, and CMS) ensuring that our national health programs targeted the unique needs of women. Dr. Blumenthal served as an advisor to the White House on women’s health and worked with governmental organizations, consumer and health care professional groups to advance women’s health in the United States and internationally. Her accomplishments include developing a coordinated national approach to women’s health that dramatically increased public and scientific attention to these issues, establishing National Centers of Excellence on Women’s Health at academic centers across the country to serve as models for women’s health care nationwide, forging international partnerships, launching a coalition of 80 groups on AIDS in women, and creating new initiatives on osteoporosis, obesity, nutrition, physical activity, diabetes, and disease prevention that brought together Federal agencies, private sector organizations and the media to respond to these public health problems. Additionally, Dr. Blumenthal made the fight against cancer in women a top priority. She served as the Co-Chair and was responsible for the coordination and implementation of the National Action Plan for Breast Cancer, a Presidential initiative that catalyzed many new programs to accelerate progress in the fight against this disease. Dr. Blumenthal initiated a unique collaboration with the CIA, NASA and DOD called “From Missiles to Mammograms” that transferred imaging technology used for military and space purposes to improve the early detection of breast cancer.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the United States government’s principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.

Assistant Surgeon General of the United States
Rear Admiral (two star rank)
U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

Admiral Susan Blumenthal (ret.) served as Assistant Surgeon General of the United States in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is an elite team of more than 6,000 highly trained and qualified public health professionals dedicated to delivering the Nation’s public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science. Driven by a passion for public service, these officers serve on the frontlines in the Nation’s fight against disease and poor health conditions. As one of America’s seven uniformed services, the U.S. Commissioned Corps fills essential public health leadership and service roles within the Nation’s Federal Government agencies and programs.

White House Advisor on Health

Dr. Susan Blumenthal served as a Medical Advisor to the White House on Women’s Health and to its Domestic Policy Council on Youth Violence Prevention.

Senior Medical Advisor
Office of Global Health Affairs
Office of the Secretary
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Susan Blumenthal served as a Senior Medical Advisor in the Office of Global Health Affairs within the Office of the Secretary, US Department of Health and Human Services. She worked on several international initiatives including facilitating the development of a Middle East Health Initiative. The Office of Global Health Affairs represents the Department to other governments, other Federal Departments and agencies, international organizations, and the private sector on international and refugee health issues. The Office develops U.S. global health policy and strategy positions and facilitates the involvement of the U.S. Public Health Service in collaborations with other agencies and organizations. The Office also promotes cooperation by the PHS Operating Divisions with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and provides leadership and coordination for bilateral programs with selected countries.

Director
National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center

Admiral Susan Blumenthal envisioned and established the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center and served as its Medical Director. This Resource Center provides current information developed by Federal agencies or with Federal support pertaining to youth violence and suicide prevention.  It’s a user-friendly, single point of access to Federal information on youth violence and suicide prevention that can be reached on the internet at www.safeyouth.org or through a call center at 1-866-SAFEYOUTH (723-3968). The NYVPRC serves as a gateway for professionals, parents, youth and other interested individuals, providing the latest tools to facilitate discussion with children, to resolve conflicts nonviolently, to stop bullying, to prevent teen suicide, and to end violence committed by and against young people. Resources include fact sheets, best practices documents, funding and conference announcements, statistics, research bulletins, surveillance reports, and profiles of promising programs.

Senior Medical Advisor to the Secretary
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Dr. Blumenthal served as Senior Medical Advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture developing initiatives on nutrition and obesity prevention. She established nutrition.gov, a Federal gateway to information on nutrition. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides leadership on food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues based on sound public policy, the best available science, and efficient management.

Chief, Behavioral Medicine and Basic Prevention Research Branch
Head, Suicide Research Unit
National Institute of Mental Health
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Chair, NIH Health and Behavior Coordinating Committee

From 1981-1993, Dr. Blumenthal directed major national research and education programs at the National Institutes of Health on behavioral medicine, disease prevention, including nutrition, sleep disorders, psychoneuroimmunology, as well as on mental illness and suicide. During this period, she was a leader in exposing the inequities in women’s health and in developing initiatives to address sex differences in the causes, treatment and prevention of disease. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. Helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people’s health and saves lives, NIH scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as to increase knowledge about the causes and treatments for common and rare diseases. Composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, the NIH provides leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.

ACADEMIC AFFILIATIONS

Dr. Blumenthal has served as a Professor and Fellow at several academic institutions including:

Visiting Professor
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Media Lab

Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. serves as Visiting Professor in the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Georgetown University: School of Medicine

Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. serves as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown School of Medicine.

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry
Tufts University School of Medicine

Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D, M.P.A. serves as Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Lila Wallis Distinguished Professor of Women’s Health
Cornell University School of Medicine

Admiral Blumenthal served as the Lila Wallis Distinguished Professor of Women’s Health at Cornell University School of Medicine in recognition of her “distinguished leadership and contributions to the field of women’s health.” Founded in 1898, and affiliated with what is now New York-Presbyterian Hospital since 1927, Weill Medical College of Cornell University is among the top-ranked clinical and medical research centers in the country with a triple mission of excellence in education, research, and patient care.

Bundy Visiting Professor
Elizabeth Blackwell Lecturer
Mayo Clinic

Dr. Blumenthal served as the Bundy Visiting Professor and as the Elizabeth Blackwell Lecturer on women’s health issues at the Mayo Clinic. She has also been a keynote speaker at its Obesity Prevention Summit and served on the Advisory Committee for the Clinic’s National Health Policy Forum. The Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical school dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of virtually every type of complex illness. The Clinic is a pioneer and innovator in patient care, medical research and academic education.

Fellow, Institute of Politics
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University

Dr. Blumenthal received a Masters in Public Administration (M.P.A.) from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and also served as a Fellow at its Institute of Politics where she taught a seminar on global health issues. A memorial to President Kennedy, The Institute of Politics’ mission at Harvard University School of Government is to unite and engage students, particularly undergraduates, with academics, politicians, activists, and policymakers on a non-partisan basis and to stimulate and nurture their interest in public service and leadership. The Institute strives to promote greater understanding and cooperation between the academic world and the world of politics and public affairs. The Fellows Program represents a unique opportunity for political practitioners with diverse experiences and viewpoints to spend a semester at Harvard. Fellows interact with students, participate in the intellectual life of the community, and pursue individual studies or projects. The Fellows Program is central to the Institute’s dual commitment to encourage student interest in public life and to develop ways for the academic and political communities to learn from each other.

Visiting Professor
Stanford University
Stanford in Washington Program

Dr. Blumenthal served as a Visiting Professor at the Stanford University in Washington (SIW) Program where she taught a course on women’s health policy. This program offers qualified Stanford University undergraduate students an opportunity to study and learn in a rigorous program in the nation’s capital. In addition to seminars and tutorials taught by Stanford faculty and national policy experts, each student is placed in a substantive internship that enables them to work closely with individuals in Washington’s wide range of governmental and non-governmental organizations. Students also have ample opportunities to interact with local alumni and to enjoy Washington’s vast cultural resources.

Distinguished Visiting Professor of Women’s Studies
Brandeis University

Dr. Blumenthal served as the 3rd Distinguished Visiting Professor of Women’s Studies at Brandeis University. A highly acclaimed lecturer, she taught courses on women’s health and also co-led a course in the computer sciences and women’s studies departments that built the first website for college women’s health, 4collegewomen.org. She was awarded the University’sAbram L. Sachar Presidential Medallion in recognition of her leadership as  “a woman of outstanding achievement and rare accomplishment in education.”Brandeis University is a community of scholars and students united by their commitment to the pursuit of knowledge and its transmission from generation to generation. As a research university, Brandeis is dedicated to the advancement of the humanities, arts, and social, natural and physical sciences. As a liberal arts college, Brandeis affirms the importance of a broad and critical education in enriching the lives of students and preparing them for full participation in a changing society, capable of promoting their own welfare, yet remaining deeply concerned about the welfare of others.

Associate Vice President for Health Affairs
Visiting Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
George Washington University Medical Center

On special assignment from the Federal Government, Dr. Blumenthal served as Associate Vice President for Health Affairs and as a Visiting Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at George Washington University Medical Center. She worked as a member of the Medical Center’s leadership team and also contributed to advancing its women’s health programs. As the largest institution of higher education in the nation’s capital, GW offers an array of undergraduate and graduate programs in the liberal arts and professional degree programs in medicine, public health, law, engineering, education, business, and international affairs. The University has a diverse population with widely ranging interests and talents but with shared ideals of academic freedom and excellence, and a shared purpose of service to the nation and the world. The George Washington University Medical Center works to improve the health and well-being of the local, national and global communities by 1) developing tomorrow’s leaders; 2) delivering high-quality healthcare; 3) advancing scientific discovery and translating discoveries into action ; 4) harnessing new technology ; 5) establishing community partnerships; 6) fostering multidisciplinary collaboration; and 6) pursuing alliances unique to its location.

ORGANIZATION BOARD AFFILIATIONS

Dr. Blumenthal serves as a Board member of several philanthropic and educational institutions including:

Member, Board of Trustees
Chair, National Childhood Obesity Prevention Council
Save the Children

Dr. Blumenthal has served on the Board of Trustees of Save the Children since February 2005. She also is the Chair of its National Childhood Obesity Prevention Council. Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change in the lives of children in need in the United States and around the world. Recognized for its commitment to accountability, innovation and collaboration, Save the Children’s work takes the organization into the heart of communities to help children and families help themselves.

Member, Board of Trustees
Meridian International Center

Meridian International Center is a non-profit institution that promotes international understanding through the exchange of people, ideas and the arts. Established in 1960 and headquartered in Washington, DC, Meridian offers a wide array of outreach, exchanges, and arts programs. We educate people of all ages about global issues, connect professionals from different countries and enrich the cultural perspective of audiences across the United States and abroad. Dr. Blumenthal serves on the Center’s Board of Trustees.

Member, Advisory Council
Stanford University in Washington

Dr. Blumenthal serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the Stanford University in Washington (SIW) Program. This program offers qualified Stanford University undergraduate students an opportunity to study and learn in a rigorous program in the nation’s capital. In addition to seminars and tutorials taught by Stanford faculty and national policy experts, each student is placed in a substantive internship that enables them to work closely with individuals in Washington’s wide range of governmental and non-governmental organizations. Students also have ample opportunities to interact with local alumni and to enjoy Washington’s vast cultural resources. Dr. Blumenthal also served as a Visiting Professor at Stanford University in Washington teaching a course on women’s health policy.

Member, Advisory Board
Splashlife

Splashlife was created to serve as a resource and advocacy group for the rising generation of 75 million young Americans. To support tomorrow’s leaders — who’ve inherited the complex problems of previous generations and face an unemployment rate of 28% — Splashlife offers focused content, membership benefits, opportunities, and tools necessary to improve their lives and the lives of others. Through volunteering, donating, exerting their citizenship, and producing and sharing content, Splashlife members  become part of a movement to improve lives today and to create a better tomorrow.