He first came to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1970 as the first Clinical Director at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). In 1974 he joined the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Bureau of Biologics (what the NIH Division of Biologics Standards was called when it was first administratively transferred to the FDA). Dr. Robbins was the director of the Division of Bacterial Products until 1984, when he retuned to NICHD, establishing the Laboratory of Developmental and Molecular Immunity to explore methods for developing vaccines against Hib and other encapsulated bacteria. In subsequent years, Drs. Robbins, Schneerson, and their colleagues developed a vaccine for pertussis and worked on conjugate vaccines against typhoid fever, Staphylococcus aureus, and other bacterial diseases. Dr. Robbins retired from NICHD in 2012.
