University of Pennsylvania Strom joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania in 1980. At Penn, he founded the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB), which grew to include more than 550 faculty members, research staff, trainees, and support personnel. At the time he stepped down from leadership, CCEB research funding totaled nearly $49 million annually, with an overall budget of approximately $67 million. Strom also developed graduate and postgraduate training programs in epidemiology and biostatistics, including a
Master of Science program in
clinical epidemiology. More than 625 clinicians completed training through these programs, the majority of whom went on to academic or research-focused careers. He served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on 11
NIH-funded training grants (including T32, D43, K12, and K30 mechanisms) and was the primary mentor for more than 40 clinical research trainees. Internationally, Strom was a key contributor to the conceptualization and early development of the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN), founded in 1979 with support from the
Rockefeller Foundation to provide clinical research training to clinicians in low- and middle-income countries. Penn was a founding INCLEN training center. During its initial phase (1979–1995), INCLEN supported the establishment of 26 clinical epidemiology units across Latin America, India, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Rutgers University and Rutgers Health In 2013, Strom was appointed the inaugural
Chancellor of
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences following the dissolution of the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). RBHS, later rebranded as
Rutgers Health, integrated eight schools and seven major centers and institutes, combining academic, research, and clinical enterprises across Rutgers University. Under Strom’s leadership, Rutgers Health expanded to include approximately 2,500 employed faculty, 8,500 staff, 1,300 clinical providers, 1,700 residents, and 8,000 students, with an annual budget exceeding $2.5 billion. Research funding tripled during his tenure, surpassing $600 million annually and bringing more than $4 billion in extramural research funding to New Jersey. First quarter funding from the
National Institutes of Health increased 30% in fiscal year 26, compared to what had been a record fiscal year 25. When Strom assumed leadership, RBHS faced a projected annual operating deficit of approximately $54 million and a fund balance of $42 million. The organization achieved balanced budgets in every fiscal year following 2014, except for the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and entered fiscal year 2026 with a fund balance of $461 million. His twelve year tenure was notable for careful financial stewardship; recruitment of a new leadership team; numerous faculty recruitments; clarification of faculty expectations, enhancement of incentives, and broadened mentorship and development opportunities; a new focus on excellence, training, and interprofessional education; revitalized clinical partnerships; extensive promotion of community engagement and service; tremendous growth in research funding, institutional stature, and clinical trials; two strategic plans (2014-21 and 2022-27), with a focus on implementation and evaluation; new branding; a more rational academic, administrative, and financial restructuring of schools, institutes, and centers; new and renovated physical space; and an institutional response to the COVID-19 pandemic that was cited nationally as a model for academic health systems. == Research ==