Dr. Susan Coller Monarez is a globally recognized leader with over twenty years of experience
in health innovation. She currently serves as the Acting Deputy Director at the Advanced
Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). ARPA-H supports the development of highimpact research to drive biomedical and health breakthroughs to deliver transformative,
sustainable, and equitable health solutions for everyone.
Prior to this position, Dr. Monarez founded the Center for Innovation at the Health Resources
and Services Administration, the largest funder of safety-net health programs in the Department
of Health and Human Services. Dr. Monarez has also served at the White House as the
Assistant Director for National Health Security and International Affairs in the Office of Science
and Technology Policy (OSTP) and as the Director of Medical Preparedness Policy on the
National Security Council (NSC). In both White House roles, she led multiple efforts to enhance
the nation’s biomedical innovation capabilities. Dr. Monarez has led the development of several
Presidential-level national strategies, action plans, and policy directives related to domestic and
global health.
Prior to the White House, Dr. Monarez served in leadership positions at the Homeland Security
Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) within the Department of Homeland Security
and the Biomedical Advanced Research Projects Agency (BARDA) within the Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS). In addition to leadership roles within the Federal
government, Dr. Monarez has been called upon to serve on numerous advisory panels to
include at the National Academies of Science, the National Science Advisory Board for
Biosecurity, and the Federal Experts Science Advisory Panel. Dr. Monarez has also served as
the U.S. representative on several international cooperative initiatives including with the
European Union, Canada, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom in bilateral and
multilateral engagements.
Dr. Monarez was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science
and Technology Policy fellow and a research scientist in microbiology and immunology at the
University of Wisconsin and at the Stanford University School of Medicine.