Mark Thompson

Overview

Mark Thompson, PhD, joined Westat in May 2023 as a Vice President for Clinical Research. Thompson is an expert in the areas of real-world data (RWD) and real-world evidence (RWE). He brings over 30 years of experience in clinical research and epidemiology and is an internationally recognized expert in influenza and respiratory infection vaccines. During his distinguished career at the CDC, Thompson was the Principal Investigator on domestic and multi-country investigations of disease burden, immunogenicity, and vaccine effectiveness, including studies focused on pregnant women, infants, older adults, and health care personnel. In addition, he served as Principal Investigator for 2 of CDC’s primary vaccine evaluation platforms.

Prior to joining CDC, Thompson worked at Kaiser Permanente Northern California where he led a clinical practice guidelines initiative. He has also spent time in the private sector developing information technologies and working with large employers, including Ford, General Motors, and AT&T, to improve disease management and preventive care for their employees. Recently, Thompson advised Novavax, Inc., on developing RWD to estimate the effectiveness of Novavax’s respiratory infection vaccine.

Education

• Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Geriatric & Interdisciplinary Medicine, Veterans Administration Medical Center and Stanford University
• Fellowship, Measurement and Statistics, National Institutes of Health
• PhD, Community Psychology and Epidemiology, Indiana University
• Bachelor’s Degree (summa cum laude), Emory University