David M. Krol, MD, MPH, FAAP, leads the Foundation’s efforts in developing and maintaining a diverse, well-trained leadership and workforce in health and health care. RWJF’s work to build human capital encompasses many of the Foundation’s longest-running and best-known programs. Drawn to RWJF by “the opportunity to be part of an organization that is focused on social change,” he views his role as one of “helping to develop health professionals through enhancing skills, building knowledge, expanding opportunities, and then sending them out to create change in health and health care nationwide.”
Before joining RWJF in 2009, Krol was an associate professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toledo College of Medicine. Previously, he was director, Medical Affairs and Clinical Evaluation at the Children’s Health Fund in New York and also served as the Fund’s vice president for Medical Affairs. While an assistant professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy and Management (in dentistry) at Columbia University, he was the recipient of a Soros Advocacy Fellowship for Physicians, and served as a senior policy research consultant at the Children’s Dental Health Project in Washington, D.C. He is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars program and a former Bush Fellow in Child Development and Social Policy at Yale University.
A recognized leader in children’s oral health advocacy, Krol has provided pediatric primary care to the underserved in Connecticut, New York and Ohio, testified before federal, state and local legislative bodies on behalf of children, and published in scientific journals such as Pediatrics, Advances in Pediatrics, Pediatrics in Review and others on topics as diverse as children’s oral health, health workforce policy, medical errors and labor pain management. He has held leadership positions in the American Academy of Pediatrics and has received numerous awards including being selected as a Pediatric Leader of the 21st Century by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Johnson & Johnson Pediatric Institute.
Krol received a BA magna cum laude with college honors from the University of Toledo. He also was a dominating pitcher for the University’s baseball team and was its first player to earn Academic All-American honors. He still ranks among the top 10 at the university in seven statistical categories. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins, he played professional baseball for three years.
Krol received his MD from Yale University School of Medicine and completed his residency in pediatrics at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, Cleveland. He received an MPH from the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.
Krol is a diplomate of the American Board of Pediatrics, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the recipient of the American Medical Association Foundation 2001 Leadership Award.
Born in Oberlin, Ohio he now resides in Princeton with his wife, Christina, a television news producer, their daughter, Ellie, and their two sons, Matthew and Brian.
He enjoys music, running and “just about anything athletic.”
