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Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A. (ret,) is a senior fellow with the Health Policy Program and directs the Health Innovations Lab at New America. For more than two decades, Dr. Blumenthal provided distinguished service as a leading federal government medical expert, as an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, and as a spokesperson in the administrations of four U.S. Presidents. She served as assistant surgeon general of the United States, the first-ever deputy assistant secretary for women's health, and was senior global and e-health advisor in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Dr. Blumenthal was also a White House health advisor, the medical advisor to the Secretary, USDA, chief of the Behavioral Medicine and Basic Prevention Research Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health, and chair of the Health and Behavior Coordinating Committee at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Blumenthal has published many scientific articles, edited books including Suicide over the Life Cycle, and served as the host and medical director of a television series on health. She was the public health editor of the Huffington Post, the health columnist for Elle magazine and U.S. News and World Report, and has chaired numerous national and international committees and conferences. Named by the Medical Herald and the National Library of Medicine as one of the most influential women in medicine and by the New York Times as one of the top doctors in the women's health field, Rear Admiral Blumenthal is the recipient of numerous awards, medals and honorary doctorates for her pioneering leadership and significant contributions to improving health. She was named the 2009 Health Leader of the Year by the Commissioned Officers Association, its highest honor, and as a Rock Star of Science by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation.