Erin Tompkins

Military Health Policy & Healthcare Systems

Biodefense, Infectious Diseases & Public Health Preparedness

Translational Medicine & Clinical Trials in Military Populations

Medical Education & Literature Synthesis

LTC Erin Tompkins is an active duty Army physician who has served in the military for 16 years in a breadth of
assignments representing a fulfilling career as a well-rounded medical leader. She graduated from the
Uniformed Services University medical school and then trained as an internal medicine physician at Madigan
Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. After training and board certification, LTC Tompkins continued
to develop her experience as a staff physician through her work at Womack Army Medical Center and at
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and her operational military experience as a Brigade Surgeon
for the 210 Field Artillery Brigade in Korea. LTC Tompkins also has robust academic and administrative
experience through her work as a General Internal Medicine fellow. During this time, she completed an
externship with the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. This experience
allowed her to contribute to research that informed congressional representatives about topics on defense
health policy. Through CRS, she also authored publications on obesity and impacts on the military, nutrition in
the military and global health engagement policy. LTC Tompkins then was selected as the Chief, Division of
Medicine, at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), where she was
responsible for management and oversight of human medical research activities. Part of her role was the
communication of biothreats to force health protection and potential effects of large-scale attacks to DoD
representatives and policy makers. In this role, LTC Tompkins also instructed over 500 medical providers
within the DoD, in the federal system and international U.S. partners on the recognition, diagnosis and
treatment of human infections by potential biowarfare agents. She has also presented tabletop exercises to
simulate potential outbreaks from biowarfare agents in resource-limited environments. Specific agents of
interest included anthrax, tularemia, VHF, smallpox, select toxins, plague, typhus. LTC Tompkins has an
appointment of assistant professor at USUHS in the department of medicine and also serves as the Program
Director for the General Internal Medicine Fellowship. She instructs graduate students in medical literature
analysis and meta-analysis and systematic review. LTC Tompkins will move into an additional position as the

Director, Translational Medicine Unit (TMU), for USUHS in July 2025. The TMU is a clinical trials unit that
conducts human trials for the welfare of military personnel and those affiliated with the Department of Defense.