NHANES Directors

Kathryn Porter,
M.D., M.S.
2013-present

Dr. Kathryn S. Porter was appointed Director of the NCHS Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (DHANES) on April 1, 2013. Dr. Porter is responsible for managing the planning and implementation of the ongoing NHANES program, and oversees the overall analytic research activities for the survey.

A Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corp and former Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer, Dr. Porter brings a strong combination of training and experience to this position, uniquely important to monitoring the Nation's health. For the past 15 years, she has served as Medical Officer in the Operations Branch of DHANES, and was Acting Branch Chief of Operations from 2001-2003. In many ways Dr. Porter has been the "face" of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, being respondents' first point of contact to answer questions on the survey and in reporting their test results. She has also been a first point of contact for the communities where NHANES is conducted. Dr. Porter is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, and the American College of Preventive Medicine. She has presented NHANES data at conferences both domestically and abroad, and has authored and coauthored numerous publications.

Dr. Porter earned an M.D. from the Medical College of Virginia (1985) and an M.S. in Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology from the University of Maryland (1993). She is board certified in Preventive Medicine and Public Health, and is a Fellow, American College of Preventive Medicine.

 

Clifford L. Johnson,
M.S.P.H.
2001–2012

Clifford Johnson had been with the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey program for 42 years. He started first as a research analyst, then a branch chief and special assistant to the director of the division. Mr. Johnson was appointed Deputy Director in 1996, and served as the Division Director from 2001-2012.

Mr. Johnson was a member of many national and international committees and workshops on nutrition and health, and had served as an expert consultant to New Zealand, Korea, the European Union, South Africa and Canada on the content and conduct of examination surveys. He also served as an advisor to several Institute of Medicine committees and working groups. Mr. Johnson had played an integral role in numerous federal committees and working groups in the area of nutrition and health policy, including the National Cholesterol Education Program Coordinating Committee, the Interagency Board for Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research, the National Institutes of Health Nutrition Coordinating Committee, and the Dietary Reference Intakes Steering Committee and the CDC Folic Acid Working Group. He was the recipient of numerous NCHS and CDC awards.

Mr. Johnson's research interests spanned a variety of nutrition and health related topics, and his expertise includes nutrition monitoring, iron deficiency anemia, overweight, child growth, cholesterol, folate and cardiovascular risk factors. In addition, he had worked extensively in the area of survey methodology, and he has addressed analytic issues of complex sample surveys concentrating on survey design effects, non-response bias, multiple imputations, and the comparison of measurement error versus survey design error. Mr. Johnson had authored or co-authored over 125 articles, and given more than 300 oral presentations.

Mr. Johnson holds a B.S. degree in mathematics and statistics from Colorado State University (1969) and an M.S.P.H. in biostatistics from the University of North Carolina (1970).

 

Raynard S. Kington,
M.D., Ph.D.
1999–2001

Raynard Kington was Director of the Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Statistics (DHANES) from 1999-2001. Prior to coming to DHANES, Dr. Kington was a Senior Scientist at the RAND Corporation. After departing the DHANES, Dr. Kington served as Associate Director for Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the National Institutes of Health (2000-2003), Deputy Director of NIH (2003 to present), as well as Acting Director of NIH (2008-2009).

Dr. Kington's research has focused on the role of social factors, especially socioeconomic status, as determinants of health. His research has included studies of the health and socioeconomic status of black immigrants, demographic correlates of the willingness to participate in genetic research, the relationship between wealth and health status, the health status of U.S. Hispanic populations, and the determinants of health care services utilization.

Dr. Kington attended the University of Michigan, where he received his B.S. with distinction and his M.D. He subsequently completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Michael Reese Medical Center in Chicago. He was then appointed a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. While at the University of Pennsylvania, he completed his MBA with distinction and his Ph.D. with a concentration in Health Policy and Economics at the Wharton School and was awarded a Fontaine Fellowship.

Dr. Kington is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Public Health and Preventive Medicine. In 2006, Dr. Kington was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Robert S. Murphy,
M.S.P.H.
1979–1997

Robert Murphy began his career at NCHS, first as a statistician in the Office of Research Methods (1964-1969), and then as Assistant to the Director in the Office of Program Planning and Development (1970-1972). Mr. Murphy came to the Division of Heath Examination Surveys (DHES) in 1972, first served as a Special Assistant to the Director for Program Planning and Quality Control (1972-1974), and then as the Chief of the Survey Planning and Development Branch (1974-1978). Mr. Murphy was named Deputy Director of DHANES in 1978, and served as the Division Director from 1979 to 1997.

Mr. Murphy played an integral role in drafting the original proposal to add a nutritional component to the Health Examination Survey and subsequently worked with nutrition experts across the country and DHES staff to craft the specifics and implementation of the plan. He was the senior author on the white paper conceptualizing the specifics of NHANES I, adding the NHANES I augmentation sample to complete the plan to assess chronic diseases in adults.

During the data collection and processing of NHANES I, Mr. Murphy instituted major quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) efforts that continued in subsequent surveys. He led the content development for NHANES II, along with the QA/QC, and implementation activities. He initiated the reimbursable work program for collaborative projects with a number of federal agencies. These efforts dramatically improved the data quality and brought scientific and technical expertise into NHANES, enabling the program to address important health and nutritional policy needs.

As Director, Mr. Murphy was a prime mover in focusing NHANES data uses for specific applications. He changed the analytic and publication emphasis from government reports to professional journal articles, an important shift from general purpose statistical reports. When he retired, over 1,500 articles had been attributed to NHANES with annual increases. Maintaining close relationships with public and private users became a NHANES priority and led to the development of the data tape release program to encourage use of NHANES data. Mr. Murphy recognized the value of the “surplus biological materials” generated by the examination surveys and he worked closely with CDC to properly store, track history, and keep an inventory of specimens for accession as required.

While he was the director, Mr. Murphy expanded the focus of NHANES from producing overall estimates of the prevalence to also producing more detailed analyses for minority groups. He instituted the move of field operation and data processing to a private contractor. This move avoided personnel freezes and hiring issues, and enabled expansion and flexibility of field operations. It also enabled the division to move toward automation of the data collection process in NHANES III. Mr. Murphy directed the planning and implementation of NHANES III in collaboration with many of our Federal partners. He retired in 1997 after 18 years as the division director.

Mr. Murphy holds a B.A. degree in mathematical statistics from George Washington University (1964) and an M.S.P.H. in biostatistics from the University of North Carolina (1968).