ROBERT DARLING, M.D.

Dr. Robert Darling is the Director of the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian and Assistance Medicine (CDHAM), at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. CDHAM is the premiere DOD Center for research, scholarship and service for all medical and public health aspects of humanitarian assistance and disaster response. Dr. Darling oversees numerous programs that advance the state of preparedness for and knowledge of humanitarian assistance and disasters worldwide including healthcare sector reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, pandemic influenza preparation, mine victims assistance activities in Chad, HIV/AIDS educational initiatives in the Caribbean and South America.

Dr. Darling graduated from Adelphi University with a BA and honors in Biology. He has been a member of the Adelphi Board of Trustees since his election in 2004. He was commissioned an Ensign in the Navy Medical Corps in 1981 and entered the USUHS School of Medicine that year. He received his Doctor of Medicine in 1985, completed his internship at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, then transferred to the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute in Pensacola, Florida where he completed basic flight training and was designated a Naval Flight Surgeon in 1987.

Dr. Darling served as flight surgeon aboard the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN-71) and became second seat qualified in both the F14-A and A6-E tactical jets. Following this tour, he transferred to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland where he served as flight surgeon and Head of the Physical Qualifications Branch for the Brigade of Midshipman.

In 1996, Dr. Darling became the first board certified emergency medicine physician selected to serve the President of the United States as White House Physician. In addition to caring for the president, vice president, their families and other senior U.S. Government officials, Dr. Darling traveled to over 40 countries throughout the world planning medical contingencies for both official presidential visits and vacations. He served in the Clinton White House until October 1999.

After completing his tour as White House Physician, Dr. Darling transferred to the Operational Medicine Division of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick, Maryland, where he served as emergency physician, flight surgeon and Director of the Aeromedical isolation team. He published, consulted, and lectured widely on the medical consequences of biological weapons and bioterrorism.

In 2004, he accepted a position as Director of the Navy Medicine Office of Homeland Security, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, where he was responsible for guiding Navy Medicine in its efforts to prepare for the medical and public health consequences of natural and man-made disasters. He held this position until his retirement from the Navy with the rank of Captain in October 2006.