A 2012 course instructor, Dr Robert D. Newman is a pediatrician with more than 25 years of experience in global health and development. He is director of AMP Health, a partnership hosted by the Aspen Global Innovators Group at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC. 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, he 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 US 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, he 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 US President’s Malaria Initiative from 2006–2009.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Williams College and a Medical degree at Johns Hopkins University. He completed a pediatric residency and master’s of Public Health at the University of Washington.