Dr. Alexa Romberg is a behavioral scientist working to build scientific programs and infrastructure that advance equity, facilitate translation, and promote health and wellbeing. In December 2025 Alexa resigned her position at the National Institutes of Health in protest of the current administration’s attacks on scientific integrity. During her time at NIH, Alexa served as the Deputy Chief of the Prevention Research Branch within the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Alexa helped coordinate and lead large extramural initiatives such as the trans-NIH Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health and the NIDA Racial Equity Initiative. She also managed a grant portfolio addressing tobacco/vape/cannabis prevention and tobacco and cannabis regulatory science, with a special interest in forward and “backward” translation between basic science and prevention science. Alexa came to NIDA from Truth Initiative, where she studied tobacco use among young people and evaluated the truth mass media anti-tobacco campaign. Alexa previously worked at the University of Maryland where she conducted research on learning and attention in infancy and adulthood and cognitive interventions. Alexa earned her bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry from Yale University, her PhD in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University.