Doris Rouse, PhD, manages the coordination of diverse disciplines to address major global health needs. Dr. Rouse’s research interests include development of new drugs and drug therapies to combat antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial resistant strains of bacteria. She leads a multidisciplinary team of scientists providing the regulatory and drug development expertise to plan and manage the pre-clinical and clinical development of new drugs and devices. Over the past 22 years, this team has supported NIH, non-profits, universities, and small businesses in advancing compounds from early discovery to clinical development and regulatory submissions. Dr. Rouse also led RTI’s role as a Product Development Accelerator in the Combatting Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB-X) program established by BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Program). Since April 2020, Dr. Rouse has served on the National Institutes of Health ACTIV (Accelerating COVID Therapeutics Innovation and Vaccines) Partnership Leadership Team.
Dr. Rouse has extensive experience in the formation and ongoing operation of public and private consortia such as the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development. In support of the TB Alliance, she has contributed to the selection and development of a promising compound, PA-824, which received approval of the FDA in 2019 for the treatment of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis. RTI’s ongoing work in support of the TB Alliance has the potential to inform and advance global efforts to combat antibiotic and antimicrobial resistance of other bacteria.
For the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Dr. Rouse led a study on best practices of public-private partnerships for medical product development. She has led three Gates Foundation global health projects focused on developing and bringing to market new medical products for low- and middle-income countries. For example, she was co-PI of the Maternal and Neonatal Directed Assessment of Technology (MANDATE) project that developed a decision-support model to identify the higher impact opportunities for improving maternal and neonatal health in low resource settings.
In her tenure as Director of the Center for Technology Applications at RTI, she managed technology assessment, outlicensing, and technology sourcing projects for numerous government and corporate clients. For 15 years, Dr. Rouse led a NASA-sponsored Biomedical Application Team that worked with NASA engineers, physicians, and medical device manufacturers to adapt and transfer aerospace technologies to applications in medicine. Dr. Rouse serves as an Adjunct Professor in the UNC Gillings School of Public Health.
