As Director of Health Science and Technology, Dr. Charles A. Gardner manages the Foundation’s investments in innovation to catalyze and accelerate the development of higher-efficacy smoking cessation products and services, and to ensure that options to quit and reduce harm are accessible in low- and middle-income countries.
Dr. Gardner has over two decades of experience creating and managing international health R&D programs and partnerships in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. He has served as the Program Officer for Africa and the Middle East at the US National Institutes of Health; Science Attaché at the US Embassy in India; Associate Director for Health Equity in the Rockefeller Foundation; Senior Advisor on Research Strategy to the WHO; and Director of Child Health in the UBS Optimus Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland.
A seasoned leader in global health innovation, Dr. Gardner has served on the boards of the University of Michigan’s Center for Global Health, the Rockefeller Foundation’s pioneering impact investment fund (ProVenEx), and international non-profits. He currently serves on the board of a non-profit that promotes an innovative approach to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) training in low-income countries.
After completing his PhD, Dr. Gardner was awarded a Congressional Science Fellowship to advise the US Congress on health and science policy issues. He has also taught healthcare ethics as an Associate Professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and has over 90 publications.
Dr. Gardner is based in New York City. He holds a PhD in Developmental Neurobiology from the University of Michigan Medical School.