Speakers

Colonel Matthew G. Clark is the Joint Project Manager for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Medical (JPM CBRN Medical). He is responsible for leading the medical portfolio for the whole-of-government within the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND).

Most recently, COL Clark served as the Senior Policy Advisor and Director of COVID-19 International Response Operations on the White House COVID-19 Response Team, after serving as the Lead Program Manager for the vaccine team in Operation Warp Speed (OWS). While in these positions, he was on hiatus from serving as the Director of the Office of Medical Systems under the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA(ALT)), and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC). COL Clark was hand-picked to serve as the only military officer on the White House COVID-19 Response Team, and was responsible for the operations and logistics required to move more than 1.2 billion U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-reviewed, authorized, and approved COVID-19 vaccines to more than 115 countries bilaterally, through COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), involving Gavi (The Vaccine Alliance); the World Health Organization (WHO); the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) global organizations, and through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), via the African Union. He coordinated operations through the whole-of-government COVID-19 vaccine response, including with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Coordination Operation Response Element (formerly the Countermeasures Acceleration Group (CAG/OWS)); Department of State; Department of Defense (DOD); U.S. Agency For International Development (USAID); National Institute of Health (NIH); the FDA; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). While at the White House, the cross-agency and public-private team COL Clark led delivered over 534 million doses, which is more than the next four donors combined.

Before ASA(ALT), COL Clark was the Joint Product Manager for Chemical Defense Pharmaceuticals in the JPEO-CBRND. He and his team received an Edison Award™ of Innovation (Gold level) for high-quality, rapid product development for tightly-engineered capabilities. His team’s efforts were published in four Army AL&T articles after receiving the MG Harry Greene Awards in 2018 and 2019, for implementing medical developments using middle-tier acquisition. Consequently, in 2018 COL Clark was the first medical officer to be recognized as the U.S. Army’s Product Manager of the Year.

In addition to various research, development, test, and evaluation leader positions around the world, COL Clark has directed medical clinics and laboratories, served as Military Legislative Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives, and as the Director of the Eisenhower Leader Development Program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Columbia University.

In 1995, COL Clark graduated magna cum laude, and as a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) distinguished military graduate, from Coe College. In 2000 he received a PhD in behavioral and neural sciences from Rutgers University. In 2020, he earned a masters in strategic studies with distinction from the Army War College, and in 2021, a doctorate of humane letters from Coe College.

COL Clark has published two edited books, eight book chapters, and over 30 peer-reviewed and professional articles