Ronald Newbower, PhD

About Ronald Newbower

Ronald Newbower graduated from MIT with a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics and from Harvard with a PhD in Solid-State Physics, and is an Associate Professor in Harvard Medical School and in the MGH Department of Anesthesia. He served as the Senior VP for Research and Technology for the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1990 to 2005, and as the VP of Research Management for Partners HealthCare System. In those dual roles he oversaw the operation of Partners’ unique $800 million-per-year biomedical-research program. He led or participated in several strategic planning task forces for MGH, BWH, McLean and Spaulding Hospitals, and for their academic interactions with MIT and Harvard. He co-founded CIMIT in 1998, a $15M/year consortium of most of the major teaching hospitals and engineering schools in Boston, catalyzing interdisciplinary technology innovations. Earlier in his career at MGH he led a leading bioengineering research group, which developed innovative physiologic instrumentation technologies and systems, some of which were commercialized and adopted as a standard of care around the world. He has served as a Board member or consultant for various medical-technology companies and NPOs. In parallel with that, he and his group conducted pioneering studies of human error in medical care, borrowing from the lessons of aviation safety initiatives, to identify key strategies for reducing morbidity and mortality. He currently serves as a Board Member for non-profit and for-profit entities, and as an advisor to numerous medical-technology startup companies. He recently served four years as Chairman of the Board of the Forsyth Research Institute, presiding over its strategic move from Boston to Cambridge. His honors include the Arnold O. Beckman Award for Innovation from the Instrumentation Society of America, the AAMI Becton-Dickinson Career Achievement Award, election as a Fellow in the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and a history of senior elected positions in all his professional bioengineering societies. Ron and Donna live in Acton, MA, and enjoy five grandchildren thanks to their two married sons.