Dr. Yvonne T. Maddox is the deputy director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In this role, she guides NICHD's organizations and programs, advises the director on the institute's $1.2 billion budget, and oversees the extramural program that supports research on child development, developmental biology, mental retardation, nutrition, AIDS, population issues, reproductive biology, contraception,
pregnancy and medical rehabilitation. Dr. Maddox also has served as acting deputy director of NIH.
Dr. Maddox received her B.S. in biology from Virginia Union University, Richmond, and her Ph.D. in physiology from Georgetown University. She was a National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow and an assistant professor of physiology in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown. She studied as a visiting scientist at the French Atomic Energy Commission, Saclay, France; and graduated from the Senior Managers in Government Program of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Dr. Maddox is a recipient of many honors and awards, including
the Presidential Distinguished and Meritorious Executive Rank Awards, the Historical Black Colleges and Universities Hall of Fame inductee for the field of medicine, and the DHHS Public Service Award.
Dr. Maddox leads two teams of international scientists as part of a joint India-U.S. partnership to improve reproductive health and maternal and child health in both countries. More recently, she helped develop a similar health partnership between the U.S. and several sub-Saharan African nations.
As co-chair of NIH's working group to develop a strategic plan to eliminate health disparities, Dr. Maddox developed awareness of and participated in medical research to help affected communities improve their health. Dr. Maddox also served as co-chair of the DHHS initiative to reduce infant mortality in minority communities. One visible component of this initiative has been NICHD's widely successful "Back-to-Sleep" campaign, a communication strategy designed to help families reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
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