John M. Clymer

Joined CPSTF: 2002

John Clymer is executive director of the National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention, a nonprofit catalyst for public-private collaboration to prevent heart disease and stroke. Additionally, he is a fellow of the Institute for Health Policy and Leadership at Loma Linda University, and an adjunct assistant professor at Loma Linda University School of Public Health, and he has been a guest lecturer at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health since 2004. Before joining the National Forum in 2012, he was part of the leadership team at US Healthiest which developed HealthLead , the first accreditation for healthy workplaces.

Under Clymer’s leadership as president from 2001-2008, Partnership for Prevention won passage of landmark Medicare legislation; was recognized by Harvard Business Review for a “Breakthrough Idea;” and developed the health reform framework on which President Obama based his prevention and public health agenda. Clymer and former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher established the National Commission on Prevention Priorities. Clymer quadrupled Partnership for Prevention’s income from $1 million to $4.1 million.

As interim executive director of the Directors of Health Promotion and Education (2010-2011), Clymer led the association through a successful turnaround that doubled its revenues and secured long-term funding and sustainability.

Clymer is the TEDMed Thought Leader for Making Prevention Popular. He has served as a subject matter expert at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, and on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Chronic Disease and Malnutrition, and several other advisory and governing boards.

He often serves as a keynote speaker on health policy and prevention. He authored a chapter in Igniting the Power of Community: The Role of CBOs and NGOs in Global Public Health (Springer, 2010) and co-authored a chapter in ACSM’s Worksite Health Handbook: A Guide to Building Healthy and Productive Companies (Human Kinetics, 2009). He has testified before various legislatures, given numerous Congressional briefings, and appeared on NBC Nightly News, Fox News, CNBC, public radio, and in print media such as The New York Times and USA Today.

Service on international/national research, practice or policy boards or committees

• American Health Care Congress Advisory Committee, 2012-Present
• Co-Chair, Prevention & Wellness 2.0 Congress Advisory, 2011
• Chair and Co-Chair, 5th & 6th Annual Obesity & Wellness Congress, 2010-2011
• World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, Industry Expert, 2008
• World Economic Forum, Working Towards Wellness Project Board, 2007-2008
• World Health Care Congress, Advisory Board, 2008-Present
• World Health Care Congress Europe, Advisory Board, 2010- Present
• World Economic Forum Global Advisory Council on Chronic Disease and Malnutrition
• Secretary’s Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion & Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020, Subcommittee on User Questions and Needs
• Advisory Committee, Vaccine Education Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
• Advisory Board, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease

Recent selected publications

1. Clymer J. Working across sectors: preventing disease and promoting health through policy and practice. In Gaist P, editor. Igniting the Power of Community: The Role of CBOs and NGOs in Improving Global Public Health. New York: Springer;2010:297-309.
2. Cymer JM, Lindsay G, Childress J, Pfeiffer GJ. Health care policy and health promotion. In Pronk NP, editor. ACSM’s Worksite Health Handbook: A Guide to Building Healthy and Productive Companies (2nd edition). Champaign (IL): Human Kinetics; 2009.
3. “Booster Shot for the Health System,” Washington Times, September 26, 2007
4. “If It Worked for Bill, It Could Work for You,” Triangle Business Journal, November 22, 1996