Biography

Robin Wagner, Ph.D., M.S., is the director of the Office of Program Evaluation, Analysis and Reporting (OPEAR) within NCATS’ Division of Clinical Innovation (DCI), where she oversees the activities of the office. OPEAR was established to evaluate and communicate the value of the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Program. The office plans, conducts and supports evaluation, analysis and reporting for DCI; coordinates, provides and supports communications for the division; and liaises with offices within NCATS and across NIH to accomplish complementary goals. Wagner brings more than 30 years of experience in the environmental health and injury fields in government, academic and nonprofit settings. For 20 years, she has built teams that applied advanced statistical methods to administrative data to support policymaking and decision-making. She chairs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Data Council Data-Oriented Workforce Subcommittee and co-chairs the NIH Scientific Data Council’s Data Science Workforce Working Group.

Prior to joining NCATS in 2023, Wagner served as a senior advisor at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, where she focused on data science and policy initiatives. From 2014 to 2021, Wagner was chief science officer for the deputy director for public health science and surveillance at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For six years, she directed the Division of Statistical Analysis and Reporting in NIH’s Office of Extramural Research, leading an interdisciplinary team of data scientists who analyzed NIH’s research investments and workforce, providing decision support to NIH executive leadership. She also spent 12 years at CDC in research, policy and leadership roles. As associate director for research planning and evaluation in the Office of Public Health Research, she oversaw the development of CDC’s first agencywide research agenda and research portfolio assessment program.

Wagner was a board member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Corporation and MIT Alumni Association and spent 17 years as a member of the MIT Visiting Committee on Sponsored Research. Since 2012, she has co-chaired the American Evaluation Association’s Research, Technology and Development Evaluation Topic Interest Group.

Research Topics

Wagner’s research interests include clarifying the factors that influence the characteristics, diversity, performance and impact of the public health and biomedical research enterprise and workforce. She also investigates how novel research and analytical methods can be applied to administrative data to gain insights into program outcomes and impacts.

Wagner earned her doctorate in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She also holds a Master of Science in technology and policy from MIT and a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience and behavior from Brown University.