Speaker Biography
Robin Robinson
Robin Robinson, PhD is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and first Director for the Biomedical Advancement Research and Development Authority (BARDA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Robinson joined HHS in May 2004 as the Director of Influenza and Emerging Diseases. For the Department Robinson serves as a subject matter expert for pandemic influenza including viral disease, vaccine development, manufacturing, industrialization, and stockpiling. For the HHS Secretary and Undersecretaries he prepares briefings on pandemic influenza, options and recommendations on national policy and budget issues relative to seasonal and pandemic influenza. Further, he provides the Department with scientific, technical, and budgetary guidance on pandemic and interpandemic influenza medical countermeasure and coordinates interagency programs for acquisition and deployment of influenza vaccines and antiviral drugs under special case IND. Robinson received a Doctoral degree from the University of Mississippi Medical School in medical microbiology with a dissertation on herpes virus oncogenesis, and postdoctoral fellowships from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in molecular oncology and virology. Robinson has authored and/or coauthored more than 40 research papers and book chapters on viral pathogenesis, tumor viruses, and vaccines and is inventor of more than 30 patent inventions on vaccines. Additionally, he continues to serve as an editorial board member and reviewer for several professional scientific and technical journals on virology, vaccines, and biotechnology.