Dr. Jean Flagg Newton

I am an experienced research program administrator, having spent most of my 28-year career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Bethesda, Maryland. A persevering problem solver, I was instrumental in helping to establish the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities the forerunner of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities and served as a scientific review officer at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences; program officer for the Research Collaborative Awards Program and the Minority International Research Training Program of the Fogarty International Center; and deputy director of the Office of Research on Minority Health. The focal point of most positions held at the NIH was research capacity building in resource challenged educational institutions. I am a graduate of Tennessee State University (1971) and Harvard University (Ph.D., 1976). With my retirement from NIH in September 2016, I retained focus on community advocacy, with specific attention to Daufuskie Island, South Carolina. My maternal grandmother and her family (the Hudsons) have deep roots on the Island. While I was aware of Daufuskie Island all of my life, my interest grew when my youngest son was at Morehouse College and shared his history lesson on the Port Royal experiment with me. (Voices of the Civil War Episode 9: “Port Royal Experiment”)