Colleen Barros is an American government official specialized in managing technical and scientific

information systems An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, information storage, store, and information distribution, distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems a ...

and in

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

management. She served as the acting

United States deputy secretary of health and human services The deputy secretary of health and human services (formerly the under secretary of health, education, and welfare, 1953–1979, and the under secretary of health and human services, 1979–1990) is the chief operating officer of the United States D ...

from January 20, 2017, until October 6, 2017, before being succeeded by

Eric Hargan Eric David Hargan (born June 3, 1968) is an American lawyer and government official who served as United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services from October 2017 to January 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Hargan previously a ...

. Barros served as the deputy for Norris Cochran (acting), Tom Price and

Don J. Wright Donald John Wright is an American physician, government official, and diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Tanzania between 2020 and 2023. Wright served as Acting United States Secretary of Health and Human Services for twelve day ...

(acting). Barros has also served as deputy director for management and chief financial officer for the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

Life

Barros has an M.A. in

Public Administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

from the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

. She began her career at the

(NIH) in 1979 as a budget analyst. She served as a senior administrative officer in the NIH office of the director. She was responsible for directing the efforts in establishing several new offices such as the

Office of AIDS Research {{DISPLAYTITLE:Office of AIDS Research The Office of AIDS Research of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) of the United States of America develops guidelines for the use of antiretroviral agents in HIV-1-infected adults and adolescents.Guide ...

, the Office of Human Genome Research, the Office of Research on Minority Health, and the Office of Alternative Medicine. In 1995, Barros was selected as the associate director for administration in the National Institute on Aging (NIA) where she received several awards for her contributions toward improving the administrative operations of both the NIH and the NIA. She participated in several trans-NIH committees and projects including serving on the NIH

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

Central Committee responsible for advising the NIH Director on NIH information technology issues and as the NBRSS Project Leader responsible for the development and implementation of NIH's new business system. In February of 2004, Barros joined the NIH Office of the Director again as she took on the role of acting deputy director for management until May 30th, when she was appointed deputy director for management and

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

. Barros has expertise in managing technical and scientific

and in

management. While at NIH, in 2008 she won the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive Award, the 2003 Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive Award, and 4 NIH Director's Awards.

References

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Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barros, Colleen American chief financial officers American University School of Public Affairs alumni United States Deputy Secretaries of Health and Human Services Women chief financial officers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) National Institutes of Health people