Dr Gary Darmstadt

Gary L. Darmstadt, MD, MS, is Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health, and Professor of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is a global health expert who studies the effects of reducing gender inequality across the life course, ensuring child survival, and nurturing children’s growth and development on overall community health in developing countries.

He is also a passionate educator and advocate for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition. Dr. Darmstadt came to Stanford from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), where he was Senior Fellow in the Global Development Program and led foundation initiatives to address gender inequalities and empower women and girls globally.

Prior to this role, he served as BMGF Director of Family Health, leading strategy development and implementation across maternal, newborn and child health, family planning and nutrition. Darmstadt was formerly Associate Professor and Founding Director of the International Center for Advancing Neonatal Health in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle.

He was also Senior Research Advisor for the Saving Newborn Lives program of Save the Children-US, where he led the development and implementation of the global research strategy for newborn health and survival.

He has trained in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, in Dermatology at Stanford University, and in Pediatric Infectious Disease as a fellow at the University of Washington.