John W. Gardner
Physician, National Leader in Epidemiology
& Preventive Medicine
Brigham Young High School
Class of 1966

Dr. John W. Gardner, BYH Class of 1966
Dr. John W. Garner


John W. Gardner, MD, DrPH is an academic preventive medicine physician and chronic disease and injury epidemiologist.

His experience includes medical education and epidemiologic research, and public health administration and policy.

Dr. Gardner spent 20 years teaching preventive medicine and epidemiology at the University of Utah and Uniformed Services University schools of medicine.

His recent research has been on training injuries, heat stroke, exercise-related deaths, and military mortality.

His earlier research was on cancer epidemiology, evaluating cancer occurrence related to individual, cultural and institutional behavior.

He studied cancers related to tobacco, alcohol, sexual and reproductive behaviors; cancer screening; cervical cancer as a sexually transmitted disease, and its relationship to douching and cigarette smoking; and childhood leukemia related to the 1950s Nevada nuclear testing.

Dr. Gardner served as director of the public health department for the largest US Army base, and he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense developing policy relating to Force Health Protection and Medical Readiness, particularly focusing on comprehensive medical surveillance and post-deployment health assessment.

He has extensive experience with military medical data systems and all aspects of prevention of injury and illness in the military.

Dr. Gardner has retired from the US Army and is now Director of the Division of Compliance Risk Management and Surveillance, Office of Compliance, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the US Food & Drug Administration, where he focuses on regulation of the pharmaceutical industry and monitoring of drug product quality and safety.


John W. Gardner graduated from Brigham Young High School with the Class of 1966. He served an LDS mission to Norway 1967-1970. He returned to continue his university studies and teaching:
BYU Physics, Math, Norwegian & Chemistry BA/MS 1966 to 1973;
University of Utah Medical School MD 1972-1976;
Pediatric Residency, Tucson, Arizona 1976-1978;
Harvard School of Public Health, MPH/DrPH in Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine 1978-1980;
Faculty, University of Utah, Community Medicine 1980-1984;
Faculty (Professor) Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Preventive Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland 1984 to the present (2006);
Chief of Preventive Medicine, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina 2000-2002;
DoD Health Affairs, Pentagon (2002-2004);
Retired from Army 2004;
Division Director US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drugs, Office of Compliance, Rockville, Maryland 2005 to the present (2006).
Dr. Gardner has been married for 34+ years to his wife, Kathryn. They have six children: Lisa, Kirsten, John, Michael, Andrea and Jeffrey. They have four grandchildren.


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