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Stephen Groft, Pharm.D. is the Director, Office of Rare Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. He started his career as a commissioned officer in the United States Public Health Service as a pharmacist in the Indian Health Service with assignments in South Dakota and Oklahoma . From 1982-1986, he served in the Office of Orphan Products Development at the Food and Drug Administration and from 1986-1989 with the Department of Health and Human Services as the Executive Director of the National Commission on Orphan Diseases.

As the Director of NIH's Office of Rare Diseases, he has devoted particular attention to working with patient advocacy groups in their efforts to stimulate research for their diseases. The Office has co-sponsored over 465 rare diseases-related scientific workshops and conferences with the NIH research Institutes and Centers. The NIH recently completed the first phase of developing the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network by providing support to 10 research consortia and a Data and Technology Coordinating Center . In 1991, Dr. Groft, as the first Acting Director, established the Office of Alternative Medicine at the NIH and in 2002 completed an assignment as the Executive Director of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy. Dr. Groft received both his Bachelor of Science (1968) and Doctor of Pharmacy (1979) degrees from Duquesne University