Stephen Downs, SM, is Chief Technology and Information Officer, Health, at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RJWF). He joined RJWF in 2002, was appointed Deputy Director of its Health group in 2006, and became Assistant Vice President in 2009. In addition to helping to oversee the foundation’s investments in preventing childhood obesity, improving public health, and supporting vulnerable populations, he serves as a member of RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio Team. In this role, Downs has been involved in a number of health IT projects, including collaborations with Markle Connecting for Health, a series of conferences on personal health records, and the recent Blue Button Developer Challenge.
Before coming to RWJF, Downs served as Director of the Technology Opportunities Program, a U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration initiative. He was also a Research Fellow of the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Downs earned a Scientiarum Magister (Master of Science) degree in Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Applied Physics from Yale University.
Downs contributed to the Markle Common Framework for Networked Personal Health Information.
