E
Biosketches of Invited Speakers
and Facilitators
Daniel Abdun-Nabi, J.D., M.L.T., has been President and CEO of Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. since 2012. Emergent is a specialty pharmaceutical company listed on the New York Stock Exchange with operations across North America and within Germany and Singapore. As a long-standing, reliable partner to the U.S. government, the company is dedicated to the development, manufacture, and delivery of a portfolio of medical countermeasures that address biological and chemical threats, including anthrax, botulinum, smallpox, and chemical agents as well as emerging infectious diseases. The company also develops and commercializes therapeutics and other specialty products for hospitals and clinics to address hematology/oncology, transplantation, infectious disease, and autoimmune disorders. Mr. Abdun-Nabi’s career in the life science industry spans more than 25 years. Prior to his appointment as CEO of Emergent BioSolutions, Mr. Abdun-Nabi served in several roles within the company, including as president, chief operating officer. Mr. Abdun-Nabi served as senior vice president for Corporate Affairs and general counsel, secretary, and vice president and general counsel. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Abdun-Nabi served as general counsel for IGEN International, Inc. and its successor BioVeris Corporation, and as senior vice president, legal affairs, general counsel and secretary of North American Vaccine, Inc. Mr. Abdun-Nabi is member of the Board of Directors of Emergent BioSolutions as well as the National Association of Manufacturers. Mr. Abdun-Nabi serves as vice chairman of the Board of BioHealth Innovation, a public–private partnership focused on accelerating innovative, market-relevant technologies across the biohealth sector in Central Maryland. Mr. Abdun-Nabi also serves as a member of the Montgomery County Executive Business Advisory
Group and as vice chair for the Montgomery County Community Advisory Group charged with assisting in the development of a Comprehensive Economic Strategy for Montgomery County. Mr. Abdun-Nabi served as chairman of the Board for the Oxford Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium (a UK joint venture established with Oxford University to develop a novel TB vaccine) and as chairman of the Board of EPIC BIO (a Singapore joint venture established to develop a novel pandemic flu vaccine). Mr. Abdun-Nabi is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and has served as a member of the American Society of Corporate Secretaries, the American Corporate Counsel Association and the Licensing Executives Society. Mr. Abdun-Nabi has been a speaker before professional and business groups on a variety of business topics. Mr. Abdun-Nabi received a Master of Laws in Taxation (M.L.T.) from Georgetown University Law Center, a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law, and a B.A. in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Rick Bright, Ph.D., is director of the Influenza Division in the Biomedical Advancement Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Influenza Division is responsible for preparing the nation for influenza pandemics and coordinating production, acquisition, and delivery of medical countermeasures during a pandemic response. Dr. Bright joined BARDA in 2010. He manages a portfolio of projects for advanced development of vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and respirator devices to aid in the response and protection against pandemic and seasonal influenza. He also leads the BARDA Influenza Division International Program, supporting programs to build and enhance global capacity for influenza vaccine production and evaluation in developing countries. Dr. Bright serves as an international subject-matter expert on influenza, vaccine and therapeutics development, and diagnostic programs. He has also served as an adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Defense. Dr. Bright began his career in influenza vaccine and therapeutics development during a 9-year combined tenure at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Influenza Division, where he focused on avian and human influenza viruses from multiple perspectives, including immunology and vaccine development, viral pathogenesis and molecular correlates of pathogenicity, as well as antiviral drugs and the development of novel
assays for high-throughput surveillance for resistance to antiviral drugs. Dr. Bright was a recipient of the Charles C. Shepard Science Award for Scientific Excellence. He has also worked in the biotechnology industry, where he served as the Director of Immunology at Altea Therapeutics and Vice President of Research and Development and Global Influenza Programs at Novavax, Inc. In 2008, he joined PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) as the Scientific Director of the Influenza Vaccine Project in the Vaccine Development Global Program and as the Director of the Influenza Vaccine Capacity Building Project in Vietnam. In this capacity, he provided technical leadership to accelerate the development of innovative vaccine and adjuvant candidates against influenza to ensure protection and access to vaccines for populations of developing countries. Dr. Bright received his Ph.D. in Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis from Emory University and his B.S. in Biology (Medical Technology) and Physical Sciences from Auburn University.
Fred Cassels, Ph.D., serves as the Chief of the Enteric and Hepatic Diseases Branch of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID), National Insitute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The branch has a range of grant portfolios with bacterial (e.g., E. coli, Salmonella, Helicobacter pylori, Clostridium difficile, cholera, gut microbiome) and viral pathogens (hepatitis A through E, rotavirus, norovirus), as well as biodefense toxins (botulinum, ricin, SEB). Multiple products are in development, arising from the grant portfolios and as submitted from academia and industry, including vaccines, small molecule and immuno-therapeutics, and diagnostics. These products are in the preclinical stage as well as in clinical trials, all with support through DMID grants or contracts. Previously, he served as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) (2004-2011), and as the Influenza Vaccine Program Officer (2008-2011), managing grants, and contracts and serving as scientific lead for vaccine clinical trials. Prior to DMID, Dr. Cassels worked at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (1988-2004) on enterotoxigenic E. coli (traveler’s diarrhea) pathogenesis, antigen purification and character-ization, and vaccine discovery, scale-up, delivery, Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations (CGMP), and clinical trials.
Peter Daszak, Ph.D., is President of EcoHealth Alliance, a U.S.-based organization that conducts research and outreach programs on global health, conservation and international development. Dr. Daszak’s re-
search has been instrumental in identifying and predicting the impact of emerging diseases across the globe. His achievements include identifying the bat origin of SARS, identifying the underlying drivers of Nipah and Hendra virus emergence, producing the first ever global emerging disease “hotspots” map, identifying the first case of a species extinction due to disease, coining the term “pathogen pollution,” and discovering the disease chytridiomycosis as the cause of global amphibian declines. Dr. Daszak is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Forum on Microbial Threats, the Academies Advisory Committee to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the Supervisory Board of the One Health Platform, the One Health Commission Council of Advisors, and the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD) External Advisory Board. He has served on the Institue of Medicine (IOM) committee on global surveillance for emerging zoonoses, the National Research Council (NRC) committee on the future of veterinary research, the International Standing Advisory Board of the Australian Biosecurity CRC; and has advised the Director for Medical Preparedness Policy on the White House National Security Staff on global health issues. Dr. Daszak won the 2000 CSIRO medal for collaborative research on the discovery of amphibian chytridiomycosis, is the EHA institutional lead for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats-PREDICT and PREDICT-2, is on the editorial board of Conservation Biology and Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ecohealth. He has authored more than 200 scientific papers, and his work has been the focus of extensive media coverage, ranging from popular press articles to television appearances.
Thomas A. Dunn, M.S., M.B.A., is an Assistant Product Manager for the Diagnostics Joint Product Management Office within the Medical Countermeasure Systems Joint Project Management Office (MCS JPMO) headquartered at Fort Detrick, Maryland. In this role, he provides scientific, technical, acquisition, and programmatic direction as the Next Generation Diagnostics System Increment 1 (NGDS Inc 1) Deployable Component Device Manager for the development of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared in vitro diagnostic (IVD) kits and environmental surveillance assays for biological warfare agents. He collaborates with joint service, interagency, and international partners and acquisition professionals in the development, acquisition, and
fielding of FDA-cleared IVDs and surveillance countermeasures. Mr. Dunn graduated with honors from Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Science Studies. He continued his graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, earning master’s degrees in Biotechnology and Business Administration. He is Defense Acquisition Workforce certified at Level II in Science and Technology as well as Level I in Program Management. Mr. Dunn has held numerous positions in academia and clinical diagnostics. His scientific career began at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation and University of Maryland School of Medicine, characterizing adaptive immunity for vaccine and preclinical drug trials. He transitioned into clinical genetics and molecular diagnostics discovery at the Institute for Genetic Medicine and the Department of Urology as a technologist and researcher at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Mr. Dunn also served as a faculty research assistant with the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Maryland. He has authored 13 peer-reviewed scientific publications and holds a patent for a novel cancer treatment, prevention, and detection method. Prior to his role in the NGDS Inc 1 program, Mr. Dunn served as a program analyst/project coordinator for the Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System and science manager for the Critical Reagents Program, both within the Chemical Biological Medical Systems (CBMS) JPMO. Mr. Dunn then became an assistant product manager with CBMS in January 2013 and continued in this position through the transition of CBMS into the activation of the MCS JPMO. Mr. Dunn assumed his current role at MCS as an assistant product manager in June 2013. Academia and industry have recognized Mr. Dunn’s scientific accomplishments and leadership with the Judge Ralph M. Burnett Prostate Cancer Research Award, Johns Hopkins University General Honors, and a Certificate of Commendation from the Henry M. Jackson Foundation.
Victor J. Dzau, M.D., is the eigth president of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). He is Chancellor Emeritus for Health Affairs and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University and the past President and CEO of the Duke University Health System. Previously, Dr. Dzau was the Hersey Professor of Theory and Practice of Medicine and Chairman of Medicine at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, as well as Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Dzau has made a significant impact on medicine through his seminal research in cardiovascular medicine and
genetics, pioneering the discipline of vascular medicine, and leadership in health care innovation. His important work on the renin angiotensin system (RAS) paved the way for the contemporary understanding of RAS in cardiovascular disease and the development of RAS inhibitors as therapeutics. Dr. Dzau also pioneered gene therapy for vascular disease, and his recent work on stem cell “paracrine mechanisms” and the use of microRNA in direct reprogramming provides novel insight into stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. In his role as a leader in health care, Dr. Dzau has led efforts in health care innovation. His vision is for academic health sciences centers to lead the transformation of medicine through innovation, translation, and globalization. Leading this vision at Duke, he and his colleagues developed the Duke Translational Medicine Institute, the Duke Global Health Institute, the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, and the Duke Institute for Health Innovation. These initiatives create a seamless continuum from discovery and translational sciences to clinical care, and they promote transformative innovation in health. As one of the world’s preeminent academic health leaders, Dr. Dzau advises governments, corporations, and universities worldwide. He has served as a member of the Council of the IOM and the Advisory Committee to the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and as chair of the NIH Cardiovascular Disease Advisory Committee and the Association of Academic Health Centers. Currently he is a member of the board of directors of the Singapore Health System, Governing Board of Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, and Senior Health Policy Advisor to Her Highness Sheikha Moza (Chair of the Qatar Foundation). He is also on the Board of Health Governors of the World Economic Forum and chaired its Global Agenda Council on Personalized and Precision Medicine. In 2011, he led a partnership between Duke University, the World Economic Forum and McKinsey. He founded the nonprofit International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery and chairs its board of directors. Among his honors and recognitions are the Gustav Nylin Medal from the Swedish Royal College of Medicine; the Max Delbruck Medal from Humboldt University, Charité, and the Max Planck Institute; the Commemorative Gold Medal from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich; the Inaugural Hatter Award from the Medical Research Council of South Africa; the Polzer Prize from the European Academy of Sciences and Arts; the Novartis Award for Hypertension Research; the Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Heart Association (AHA); and the AHA Research
Achievement Award for his contributions to cardiovascular biology and medicine. He has received six honorary doctorates.
Jeremy Farrar, Ph.D., is director of the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in health by supporting the brightest minds. Before joining the Trust he was director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, where his research interests were in infectious diseases, tropical health and emerging infections. He has contributed to 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and served on several WHO advisory committees. Dr. Farrar was appointed OBE in 2005 for services to Tropical Medicine, and he has been awarded the Memorial Medal and Ho Chi Minh City Medal from the Government of Vietnam, Frederick Murgatroyd Prize for Tropical Medicine by the Royal College Physicians, and the Bailey Ashford Award by the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Mark F. Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., is the Vice President for Medical Affairs and Policy in Merck Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at Merck & Co., Inc. He is responsible for global efforts to implement vaccines and anti-infective therapies to achieve their greatest individual and public health benefits. Dr. Feinberg received his B.A., magna cum laude in biology and anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine. His Ph.D. research at Stanford was supervised by Dr. Irving Weissman and included time spent studying the molecular biology of the human retroviruses —HTLV-I and HIV—as a visiting scientist in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Gallo at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Feinberg served as a project officer for the Committee on a National Strategy for AIDS of the IOM and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Dr. Feinberg pursued postgraduate residency training in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School and postdoctoral fellowship research in the laboratory of Dr. David Baltimore at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Dr. Feinberg was an assistant professor of medicine and microbiology & immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he also served as an attending physician in the AIDS/Oncology Division and as director of the Virology Research Laboratory at San Francisco General Hospital. Dr. Feinberg was a medical officer in the Office of AIDS Research in the Office of the Director of the National Institutes Attending Physician at
the NIH Clinical Center. During this period, he also served as executive secretary of the NIH Panel to Define Principles of Therapy of HIV Infection. Prior to joining Merck in 2004, Dr. Feinberg served as professor of medicine and microbiology & immunology at the Emory University School of Medicine, as an Investigator at the Emory Vaccine Center, and as an attending physician at Grady Memorial Hospital. At UCSF and Emory Dr. Feinberg and colleagues were engaged in the research studies focused on revealing fundamental aspects of the pathogenesis of AIDS. Dr. Feinberg also founded and served as the medical director of the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center—a clinical research facility devoted to the clinical evaluation of novel vaccines for HIV and other infectious diseases, and in basic research studies focused on revealing fundamental aspects of the pathogenesis of AIDS. Dr. Feinberg also founded served as the medical director of the Hope Clinic of the Emory Vaccine Center—a clinical research facility devoted to the clinical evaluation of novel vaccines and to the translation research studies of human immune system biology. In addition to his other professional roles. Dr. Feinberg has also served as a consultant to and a member of several committees of the IOM and the NAS. Dr. Feinberg currently serves as a member of the National Advisory Committee, the Academies’ Forum on Microbial Threats, and the board of trustees of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. He has also earned board certification in internal medicine, is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the Association of American Physicians. He was the recipient of an Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Award from the Pediatric AIDS Foundation and an Innovation in Clinical Research Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
Louis Fries III, M.D., joined the Novavax team in 2011. He has 22 years of experience in the clinical testing and development of human vaccines in academic, small biotech, and major biopharmaceutical environments. While a major career focus has been influenza, he has also had extensive involvement with bacterial and parasitic vaccines and therapeutic and prophylactic immunoglobulins. Most recently, following the acquisition of ID Biomedical by GSK Biologicals, Dr. Fries served as Director of Clinical Development from 2005 to 2011. He had previously served as Vice President of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs for Intellivax and ID Biomedical GSK Biologicals, which he had joined after 4 years as Director of Clinical Development for Univax and Nabi. Prior to joining the biotechnology industry, Dr. Fries served for 4 years as a
faculty member in the Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Univerisity School of Hygiene and Public Health. He has been an author of more than 60 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Fries received his undergraduate training at the Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. from Duke University. He trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University and infectious disease at the NIAID, where he was a member of the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation from 1979 to 1989.
Robert F. Garry, Ph.D., is a professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine. He serves in the Tulane University administration as Assistant Dean for Graduate Studies in Biomedical Sciences. He is also an associate member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an adjunct professor at Tuskegee University and Redeemers University (Nigeria). He is currently managing the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Consortium (VHFC), which is developing countermeasures against Lassa virus, Ebola virus, and other severe pathogens. The team developed point-of-care and confirmatory diagnostics for Lassa fever to commercial standards. The VHFC leveraged these advances to develop high-sensitivity and specificity immunoassays for Ebola virus and other filoviruses, including an Ebola Rapid Diagnostic Test (Ebola RDT) that can be used in austere settings. The West African Ebola outbreak is the first to have occurred in an area with an advanced clinical and laboratory infrastructure for study of viral hemorrhagic fevers. VHFC scientists analyzed Ebola virus genetics/genomics as the virus initially spread into Sierra Leone. The study demonstrated a single introduction of Ebola virus into humans with subsequent human-to-human spread and documented a rapid accumulation of mutations in the viral genome. A clinical study showed that the West African variant of Ebola virus causes predominantly a gastrointestinal illness and focused attention of this aspect of the disease for control of disease spread. Dr. Garry has served on numerous National Institutes of Health review panels, principally in the areas of AIDS, Small Business and Biodefense. Dr. Garry completed his undergraduate education at Indiana State University and performed doctoral studies at the University of Texas at Austin.
Marion F. Gruber, Ph.D., is the director of the Office of Vaccines Research and Review (OVRR) in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA. In this position, she directs the review, monitoring, and evaluation of investigational new drug applications and biologic
license applications encompassing vaccines and related biological products as well as research pertaining to the development, manufacturing, and testing of vaccines. Before her current role she served as OVRR deputy director and as OVRR associate director for policy. In these positions she gained extensive experience in developing policies and programs affecting vaccine regulations. Dr. Gruber has served on numerous agency and interagency working groups and committees. She has represented the OVRR in numerous FDA-wide initatives, at the national and international meetings, and on national and international task forces to foster communications and collaborations related to the safety, quality, and efficacy of vaccines. Dr. Gruber has more than 20 years of experience in the regulatory review and approval of preventive vaccines and related biologics. She has generated guidance for industry documents critical to the development of preventive vaccines and has contributed to rule making affecting the regulation of vaccines.
Debra Hanna, Ph.D., is currently the executive director of Critical Path to TB Drug Regimens (CPTR) at the Critical Path Institute. Her primary responsibilities include leading a team of more than 300 scientists to facilitate the development of novel tuberculosis (TB) drug regimens through development of innovative regulatory science approaches, qualification of novel drug development tools and biomarkers, and development of rapid drug susceptibility assays and diagnostics for TB. Dr. Hanna is a trained microbiologist and immunologist. Prior to joining Critical Path Institute, she spent 11 years within the Antibacterial Research and Development Unit with Pfizer Global Research and Development. She was the research project leader for multiple antibacterial drug development programs. Her laboratory focused on the pre-clinical evaluation of novel antibiotics and their combination using multiple in vitro systems including the hollow fiber model. Additionally, Dr. Hanna led a dynamic translational research team focused on understanding pre-clinical pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic relationships for novel antibacterial agents from early discovery to Phase II development. Dr. Hanna’s passion for TB research began during her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, where she studied the impact of virulence genes for survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the host lung. She received her doctorate in microbiology from North Carolina State University and her B.S. degree in microbiology and immunology from Colorado State University.
Richard Hatchett, M.D., is chief medical officer and deputy director for Strategic Sciences and Management at BARDA within HHS. His primary responsibilities include oversight of programs relating to strategic science and innovation, strategic affairs and reporting, development of science and preparedness policy, human resources, communications, and organizational marketing. Previously, he served as Director for Medical Preparedness Policy on the White House National Security Staff, where he worked on a wide array of issues related to medical countermeasures development, the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and pandemic preparedness more broadly. In 2005–2006, he served as Director for Biodefense Policy on the White House Homeland Security Council and was a principal author of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan. In this capacity, he helped set policy and devise strategies to mitigate the consequences of a pandemic and promote pandemic preparedness. From 2005 to 2011, he served as associate director for Radiation Countermeasures Research and Emergency Preparedness at NIAID. Dr. Hatchett completed his undergraduate and medical educations at Vanderbilt University, an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center, and a fellowship in Medical Oncology at the Duke University Medical Center.
Thomas V. Inglesby, M.D., chief executive officer and director of the UPMC Center for Health Security, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to protecting people’s health from the consequences of epidemics and disasters and to ensuring that communities are resilient to those challenges. Dr. Inglesby’s work is internationally recognized in the fields of public health preparedness, pandemic flu and epidemic planning, and biosecurity. He is chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, CDC. He is co-chair of the National Health Security Preparedness Index initiative. He has been chair or a member of a number of the Academies committees, and he has served in an advisory capacity to the Defense Science Board, HHS and the Department of Homeland Security, and NIH. He has been invited to brief White House officials from the past three presidential administrations on national biosecurity challenges and priorities, and he has delivered congressional testimony on public health preparedness and biosecurity. He is also on the board of directors of PurThread, a company dedicated to developing antimicrobial textiles.
During the past 15 years, Dr. Inglesby has authored or co-authored more than 80 peer-reviewed articles, reports, and commentaries on a wide range of issues related to health and security. He is co-editor-in-chief of the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science, which he helped to establish a decade ago as the first peer-reviewed journal in its field. He was principal editor of the 2002 JAMA book Bioterrorism: Guidelines for Medical and Public Health Management. He is regularly consulted by major news outlets. Dr. Inglesby is associate professor of medicine and public health at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Public Health. He completed his internal medicine and infectious diseases training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also served as assistant chief of service. Dr. Inglesby received his M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his B.A. from Georgetown University. He continues to see patients in a weekly infectious disease clinic.
CDR Franca R. Jones, M.S., Ph.D., is Director of Medical Programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs (Chemical and Biological Defense). In 2010, CDR Jones was selected for a detail in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where she led the administration’s biological defense research, development, testing, and evaluation policy, and biosecurity and biosurveillance policy. CDR Jones has made significant strides toward developing national security policy and coordinating interagency research and development policies in the areas of chemical and biological defense. She has led or co-led the development of the National Biological Response and Recovery Science and Technology Roadmap; National Biosurveillance Science and Technology Roadmap; National Strategy for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives Standards; National Non-Traditional Chemical Agent Research, Development, Testing, and Eval-uation Strategy; National Strategy for Biosurveillance; and United States Government Policy for Oversight of Dual Use Research of Concern.
Jacqueline Katz, Ph.D., was appointed chief of the Immunology and Pathogenesis Branch of CDC’s Influenza Division in 2006. Under her leadership, the Branch has received three Charles C. Shepard Science Awards for excellence in laboratory methods publications. Dr. Katz and her group are inter-nationally renowned for their research on the
pathogenesis, immunity, and transmission of seasonal and pandemic influenza viruses, specifically in the area of human infection with novel influenza viruses of animal origin. Dr. Katz earned her B.S. degree in microbiology and biochemistry and her Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Melbourne, Australia. After completing her postdoctoral training in influenza virology, she worked as an assistant member of the Department of Virology and Molecular Biology at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. Dr. Katz joined CDC in 1992 as chief of the Immunology and Viral Pathogenesis Section in the Influenza Branch within the Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, Dr. Katz and her group conducted serologic studies, provided laboratory support for seroepidemiologic investigations, and supplied technical support to public health partners. Using existing models system, her team studied the properties of virulence (disease severity) and transmissibility of pandemic 2009 H1N1 viruses in comparison to seasonal viruses. This research provided a platform for the ongoing assessment of multiple preventive and treatment strategies against pandemic 2009 H1N1 infection. In addition to her role at CDC, Dr. Katz has adjunct appointments at Emory University in the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Pathology, and is an adjunct member of the graduate faculty in the Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis Program of the Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. She also serves as an associate editor for the International Society for Influenza and Other Respiratory Virus Diseases. Dr. Katz’s work is documented in more than 150 research articles, reviews, and books.
Suresh Kumar, M.M.S., is a senior partner in Oliver Wyman’s Public Sector and Health & Life Sciences practice groups in New York. He previously spearheaded U.S. Trade Promotions and Exports in the Obama Administration as Assistant Secretary of Commerce & Director General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service. Mr. Kumar served on the Group Operating Committee of Johnson & Johnson. A “trifecta athlete,” he has contributed much to private enterprise, public service, and the social sectors as an executive, administrator, consultant, and professor of management. He has led innovative process transformation initiatives and identified billion-dollar cost avoidance and efficiencies. Throughout his business, government, and consulting careers, Mr. Kumar has led projects to create enduring value, facilitate global expansion, and enhance leadership positions. His global operating
experiences included leading the Worldwide Consumer Pharmaceuticals businesses at Johnson & Johnson, where he served on the Group Operating Committee, and Warner Lambert’s Latin America and Asia Consumer Products businesses as vice president. Mr. Kumar has established global organizations and turned around Emerging Markets businesses. He has established programs to expand access to health care and improve population health. He served on the boards/global councils of the World Self-Medication Industry, American Management Association, Association of National Advertisers, and Consumer Healthcare Products Association. He has served the Bill & Melinda Gates and Clinton Foundations, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and the African Development Bank to “improve lives and livelihoods.” Engagements helped shape policies, programs, and financing mechanisms to reduce hunger and led to food security in Rwanda and Malawi. He has worked extensively in Africa. He has helped companies develop growth strategies, go to market programs, and enter new markets. He has led organizational transformation to leverage assets and resources across sectors, functions, and geographies. He has helped create cohesive enterprise-wide processes to enhance market agility, and integrated businesses and acquisitions to improve operational effect-iveness across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Mr. Kumar is a Distinguished Visiting Professor of International Business at George Washington University and has previously held faculty appointments at Rutgers University, Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Canada, and Bombay University in India. He was Distinguished Executive-in-Residence at Thunderbird School of Global Management. Mr. Kumar has led business initiatives on every continent and speaks six languages. He has published on globalization and management practices. He has an economics degree from Delhi University and a master’s in management from Bombay University. He is an alumnus of the Thunderbird International Consortium Program.
Joe Larsen, Ph.D., is the chief of the Broad Spectrum Antimicrobials program at the BARDA. The goals of BARDA’s Broad Spectrum Antimicrobials program are to enable the U.S. government to acquire medical countermeasures (MCMs) to protect the American public against bioterrorist threats and to develop additional antimicrobial treatment options to counter the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in clinically prevalent bacterial pathogens. He currently oversees a portfolio of approximately $800M in programs that support the development of
novel antibacterial and antiviral drugs. Dr. Larsen also serves as the BARDA representative on the U.S. Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance. Previously, Dr. Larsen served as a senior science and technology manager at the Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense within the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. In that position he managed an ~$50M applied research program aimed at the development of medical therapeutics against viral, bacterial, and toxin threat agents. From 2005 to 2006, Dr. Larsen was an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow at the Department of Homeland Security, where he managed university-based research programs aimed at the development of enhanced food safety detection systems and MCMs for agricultural threat agents. He was a 2005 NAS Christine Mirzayan Fellow with the Board of Life Sciences. Dr. Larsen received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and his B.A. with honors from the University of Kansas.
Wouter Latour, M.D., M.B.A., is chief executive officer and director of Vaxart, a company that develops oral vaccines. Dr. Latour brings more than 20 years of industry experience to Vaxart, including roles as vice president and director, Global Strategy and Business Development at SmithKline Beecham Biologicals (now GSK Vaccines) and as strategic adviser for Novartis Pharma, Novavax, and Berna Biotech (now J&J/Crucell). Most recently, Dr. Latour served as CEO and director at Trinity Biosystems, Inc., a company focusing on oral delivery of biopharmaceuticals. Dr. Latour earned his M.D. from the University of Amsterdam and his M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Lisa M. Lee, Ph.D., M.A., M.S., is executive director of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. Dr. Lee, who has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in educational psychology from the University of Colorado, and an M.S. in bioethics from Alden March Bioethics Institute at Albany Medical College, is an epidemiologist and public health ethicist. The focus of Dr. Lee’s current work is bioethics pedagogy and public health ethics. Her prior work at CDC included the ethics of public health surveillance, privacy and public health data use, scientific integrity, research ethics, development and evaluation of surveillance systems, research on HIV and fertility, HIV/AIDS survival, HIV and tuberculosis, and data quality. During her 14-year career at CDC, she held several leadership positions, including as the agency’s
assistant science officer and director of the Office of Scientific Integrity. Dr. Lee is the lead editor of Principles and Practice of Public Health Surveillance, 3rd edition (Oxford University Press, 2010). She has authored numerous publications in both science and ethics. She has served as a peer reviewer for many scientific conferences and journals, and as associate editor for the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry and Public Health Reviews. Dr. Lee is adjunct professor at the Center for Biomedical Ethics Education & Research at Albany Medical College, where she teaches ethics. She is the recipient of the 2014 Pellegrino Medal for excellence in bioethics.
Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H., is the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS. The mission of her office is to lead the nation in preventing, responding to, and recovering from the adverse health effects of public health emergencies and disasters, ranging from hurricanes to bioterrorism. Dr. Lurie was previously senior natural scientist and the Paul O’Neill Alcoa Professor of Health Policy at the RAND Corporation, where she directed RAND’s public health and preparedness work as well as RAND’s Center for Population Health and Health Disparities. She also served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health at HHS; in state government, as medical adviser to the commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Health; and in academia, as professor in the University of Minnesota Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Lurie has a long history in the health services research field, primarily in the areas of access to and quality of care, mental health, prevention, public health infrastructure, and preparedness and health disparities. Dr. Lurie attended college and medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, and completed her residency and M.S.P.H. at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was also a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar. She is the recipient of numerous awards and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Lurie continues to practice clinical medicine in Washington, DC.
Meghan Majorowski, M.Sc., leads the Global Health practice at FSG, a mission driven consulting firm committed to reimaging social change that serves foundations, businesses, non profits and governments around the world. She brings nearly 15 years of experience in strategic and tactical consulting as well as management of development programs in emerging economies. She started her career as a strategy consultant for
McKinsey & Company and became vice president of global health operations at BroadReach Healthcare and a private consultant serving tech start-ups and philanthropic organizations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Monique K. Mansoura, Ph.D., M.B.A., M.S., is the senior director of the Medical Countermeasures Franchise at Novartis Vaccines (NVx). She manages daily operations for the cross-functional Global Program Team. She leads policy and business development efforts to identify and pursue opportunities to develop the franchise through alignment of NVx capabilities with U.S. government policies and strategies to develop MCM abilities to support the national health security mission. NVx is recognized as a critical partner of the U.S. government’s MCM enterprise, particularly for pandemic influenza preparedness and response, and also for broader MCM goals as one of three HHS Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing. This was most recently demonstrated in the Novartis rapid response to the H7N9 outbreak and persistent pandemic threat. Novartis developed and demonstrated the protective value of a novel H7N9 vaccine and delivered a pre-pandemic stockpile with less than 9 months of initial notification of the outbreak, and drove the integration of novel synthetic seed technology in clinical development and commercial-scale manufacturing. From 2002 to 2010, she led MCM policy and strategy efforts for HHS, establishing the inaugural Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise Strategy and Implementation Plan, which provided the framework for priority setting and a roadmap for the allocation of the $5.6 billion Special Reserve Fund provided under Project BioShield from FY04 to FY13. The requirements for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear MCMs established under her leadership have provided the foundation for the HHS product development pipeline at NIH and BARDA, and for the BioShield acquisition programs. She has worked at the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute as a policy analyst in support of the Human Genome Project and as a postdoctoral fellow conducting cystic fibrosis research. She earned a Ph.D. in bioengineering and an M.S. in human genetics from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Wayne State University. She earned an M.B.A. in the MIT Sloan Fellows Program in Innovation and Global Leadership, served as a consultant to the MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation, and supported program and planning efforts for the NIH Therapeutics for
Rare and Neglected Diseases program, now part of the National Center for Advancing Translational Science.
Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., M.P.H., is the McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health at the University of Minnesota and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP). In addition, he is a professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health; a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering; and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, University of Minnesota. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the Council of Foreign Relations. In 2005 Dr. Osterholm was appointed by the secretary of HHS to be on the newly established National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity. In 2008, he was named to the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center’s Academy of Excellence in Health Research. Later that year, he was appointed to the World Economic Forum Working Group on Pandemics. From 2001 through early 2005, Dr. Osterholm, in addition to his role at CIDRAP, served as a special adviser to then-HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on issues related to bioterrorism and public health preparedness. He was also appointed to the Secretary’s Advisory Council on Public Health Preparedness. In 2002, Dr. Osterholm was appointed by Thompson to be his representative on the interim management team to lead CDC. With the appointment of Dr. Julie Gerberding as director of CDC in 2002, Dr. Osterholm was asked by Thompson to assist Dr. Gerberding on his behalf during the transition period. Previously, Dr. Osterholm served for 24 years at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the past 15 as state epidemiologist and chief of the Acute Disease Epidemiology Section. While at MDH, he and his team were leaders in the area of infectious disease epidemiology. He has led numerous investigations of outbreaks of international importance, including foodborne diseases, the association of tampons and toxic shock syndrome, the transmission of hepatitis B in health care settings, and HIV infection in health care workers. In addition, his team conducted many studies on infectious diseases in child-care settings, vaccine-preventable diseases (particularly Haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B), Lyme disease, and other emerging infections. They were also among the first to call attention to the changing epidemiology of foodborne diseases. He was the principal investigator and director of NIH-supported Minnesota Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance and chaired the
executive committee of the Centers of Excellence Influenza Research and Surveillance network. Dr. Osterholm has been an international leader on the critical concern regarding our preparedness for an influenza pandemic. His invited papers in the journals Foreign Affairs, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Nature detail the threat of an influenza pandemic before the recent pandemic and the steps we must take to better prepare for such events. Dr. Osterholm has also been an international leader on the growing concern regarding the use of biological agents as catastrophic weapons targeting civilian populations. In that role, he served as a personal adviser to the late King Hussein of Jordan. Dr. Osterholm provides a comprehensive and pointed review of America’s current state of preparedness for a bioterrorism attack in his New York Times best-selling book, Living Terrors: What America Needs to Know to Survive the Coming Bioterrorist Catastrophe. The author of more than 315 papers and abstracts, including 21 book chapters, Dr. Osterholm is a frequently invited guest lecturer on the topic of epidemiology of infectious diseases. He serves on the editorial boards of nine journals, including Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and Microbial Drug Resistance: Mechanisms, Epidemiology and Disease, and he is a reviewer for 24 other journals. He is past president of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and has served on CDC’s National Center for Infectious Diseases Board of Scientific Counselors. Dr. Osterholm has served on the Academies Forum on Microbial Threats, the IOM Committee on Emerging Microbial Threats to Health in the 21st Century, and the IOM Committee on Food Safety, Production to Consumption. He was a reviewer for the IOM’s Report on Chemical and Biological Terrorism: Research and Development to Improve Civilian Medical Response. As a member of the American Society for Microbiology, Dr. Osterholm was on the Committee on Biomedical Research of the Public and Scientific Affairs Board, the Task Force on Biological Weapons, and the Task Force on Antibiotic Resistance. He is a frequent consultant to WHO, NIH, FDA, the Department of Defense, and CDC. He is a Fellow of the American College of Epidemiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). Dr. Osterholm has received numerous honors for his work, including an honorary doctorate from Luther College; the Pump Handle Award, CSTE; the Charles C. Shepard Science Award, CDC; the Harvey W. Wiley Medal, FDA; the Squibb Award, IDSA; Distinguished University Teaching Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, UMN; and the Wade Hampton Frost Leadership
Award, American Public Health Association. He also has been the recipient of six major research awards from NIH and CDC.
Tara O’Toole, M.D., M.P.H., is senior fellow and executive vice president at In-Q-Tel (IQT), a private, nonprofit strategic investment firm that links the U.S. Intelligence Community and venture-backed start-up firms on the leading edge of technological innovation. Dr. O’Toole is leading a strategic IQT initiative to explore opportunities and risks likely to arise in the next decade as a result of advances in the biological sciences and biotechnologies, with a particular focus on detection of and defense against biological attacks. From 2009 to 2013, Dr. O’Toole served as under secretary of Science and Technology (S&T) at the Department of Homeland Security, the principal adviser to the secretary on matters related to science and technology. Under Dr. O’Toole’s leadership, S&T created the department’s first division of cybersecurity research, a division devoted to delivering technologies to first responders, and a system engineering division. She won approval and funding from the Administration and Congress to begin construction of an urgently needed, long-delayed high containment laboratory for emergent and contagious animal diseases. In the decade before becoming under secretary, Dr. O’Toole founded and directed two university-based think tanks devoted to civilian biodefense. She was a professor of public health and director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which was the first academic center devoted to biosecurity policy and practices, and played a major role in defining the nature and consequences of major biological threats, both natural and deliberate. In 2003, Dr. O’Toole was CEO and director of the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and professor of medicine and public health at the University of Pittsburgh. From 1994 to 1998, Dr. O’Toole served in President Clinton’s administration as assistant secretary for Environment Safety and Health in the Department of Energy. From 1989 to 1993, Dr. O’Toole was a senior analyst at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). Prior to OTA, she practiced internal medicine in community health centers in east Baltimore as part of the Public Health Service. Dr. O’Toole is a past chair of the board of the Federation of American Scientists, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She received her B.A. from Vassar College, her M.D. from the George Washington University School of Medicine, and her M.P.H. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine and occupational and environmental medicine.
Gerald W. Parker, Jr., D.V.M., Ph.D, M.S., joined the Texas A&M Health Science Center in 2013 as vice president for public health preparedness and response, and as Principal Investigator for the Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing, a public–private partnership with the HHS designed to enhance the nation’s emergency preparedness against emerging infectious diseases, including pandemic influenza, and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. Earlier, Dr. Parker served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense and was responsible for Chemical and Biological Defense Program oversight throughout the Department of Defense and integration with interagency and international partners. He previously served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at HHS. In that role, Dr. Parker provided leadership in coordinating HHS-wide efforts with respect to preparedness for and response to public health and medical emergencies, and served as a focal point for operational and policy coordination with the White House, other federal departments, Congress, state and local officials, private-sector leaders, and international authorities responsible for emergency medical preparedness and the protection of the civilian population from acts of terrorism and other public health emergencies. Dr. Parker also served at the Department of Homeland Security from 2004 to 2005. He was awarded the Distinguished Executive Presidential Rank Award in 2009, and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service in 2013. Prior to his selection into the Senior Executive Service in 2004, Dr. Parker had 26 years of distinguished active U.S. Army service as a researcher, team leader, division director, program director, and laboratory Commander. During his military career, Dr. Parker held a variety of positions, including assistant deputy for research and development, director for the Medical Chemical and Biological Defense Research Program, and deputy director for the Combat Casualty Research Program at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. He is a former Commander and Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Parker graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in veterinary medicine and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine the following year. He holds a doctorate in physiology from Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston and an M.S. in Resourcing the National Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Andrew Pavia, M.D., FAAP, FIDSA, is the George and Esther Gross Presidential Professor and chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah and director of hospital epidemiology at Primary Children’s Medical Center. His current research focuses on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of influenza and other respiratory and emerging infections. He is a member of the board of directors of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and chairs the Pandemic Influenza and Bio-emergencies Task Force. He is also a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the Director of the Office of Infectious Diseases at CDC and has served as a member of the National Biodefense Science Board and the National Vaccine Advisory Board. He has been an adviser to CDC on pandemic influenza- and anthrax-related issues. He has served on committees for the Institute of Medicine exploring the distribution of antivirals during influenza pandemics and the pre-positioning of countermeasures for anthrax. He received his B.A. and M.D. at Brown University. He trained as a resident and chief resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer and preventive medicine resident at CDC, and as an infectious disease fellow at the University of Utah.
John H. Rex, M.D., FACP, is a distinguished research scientist and recognized as an opinion leader in the field of infectious disease therapy, in particular, for antifungal agents. He is vice president and head of infection, Global Medicines Development, at AstraZeneca. Dr. Rex is a science-based leader with more than 25 years of preclinical and clinical drug development experience, including 15 years as an academic investigator (NIH; University of Texas Medical School–Houston; preclinical translation work; investigator across all clinical phases and multiple indications, including pharmacology studies; clinical trial design; overall clinical development plan design; biomarker development and integration; regulatory interactions in the United States and European Union). This was followed by direct industry experience since 2003 at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals as vice president, clinical infection (2003-2012) and then vice president and head of infection, Global Medicines Development (2012-present). His industry experience includes program building via business development (AstraZeneca now has a strong anti-infective pipeline built via three acquisitions and four
licensing deals), extensive regulatory interactions, and external influencing focused on changing the development and reimbursement environments for antimicrobial agents. Since 2012, Dr. Rex has been a non-executive director at F2G Ltd., a U.K.-based biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of new and clinically superior drug classes to treat life-threatening, systemic fungal infections in at-risk patient populations. Dr. Rex has been the industry representative on the Food and Drug Administration Anti-Infective Drug Advisory Committee, is vice chair of the Consensus Committee on Microbiology for the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute, is a highlights adviser for Nature Reviews Microbiology, is a member of the Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery Committee, serves on several editorial boards, and was formerly an editor for Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. He has a B.A. in biochemistry from Rice University and an M.D. from Baylor College of Medicine.
Robin Robinson, Ph.D., was appointed in 2008 as the first director of BARDA, and Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within HHS. Dr. Robinson previously served as director for the Influenza & Emerging Disease Program within BARDA and its predecessor agency at HHS. Dr. Robinson was recruited by HHS from the vaccine industry in 2004 to establish a program with scientific and technical experts to implement the strategic plans and policies for MCMs outlined in the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. These measures included development, acquisition, and establishment of national MCM stockpiles, and expansion of domestic manufacturing surge capacities for influenza vaccines, antiviral drugs, rapid diagnostics, and nonpharmaceutical countermeasures, including respiratory devices. For his leadership in this role, Dr. Robinson was the recipient of the Department of Defense’s Clay Dalrymple Award in 2008 and a finalist for the Service to America Medal in 2009. Dr. Robinson received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Millsaps College, and a doctoral degree from the University of Mississippi Medical School in medical microbiology. He completed a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship with the State University of New York at Stony Brook in molecular oncology. As director of vaccines at Novavax, Inc., he developed patented platform vaccine technologies, including virus-like particles and subunit protein vaccines for human pathogens, including malaria, human papilloma virus, hepatitis, and influenza and for prostate, melanoma, and cervical
cancers. Dr. Robinson also serves on WHO international expert teams on pandemic influenza vaccines. Additionally, he continues to serve as an editorial board member and reviewer for several professional scientific and technical journals on virology, vaccines, public health, and biotechnology.
Robert J. Shapiro, Ph.D., M.A., M.Sc., is chair of Sonecon, LLC, a private firm that provides economic and security-related advice and analysis to senior officials of the U.S. and foreign governments and senior executives of U.S. and foreign businesses and nonprofit organizations. Dr. Shapiro has advised, among others, President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Jr., British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Treasury Secretaries Timothy Geithner and Robert Rubin, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, and many U.S. senators and representatives. He also has advised senior executives of many global companies, including AT&T, ExxonMobil, Amgen, Gilead Science, Google, Elliot Management, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and Fugitsu, as well as nonprofit organizations such as PhRMA and the Center for American Progress. Dr. Shapiro also is a senior fellow of the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, an adviser to the International Monetary Fund, co-chair of American Task Force Argentina, and director of the Globalization Initiative at New Democrat Network. Before establishing Sonecon, he was the Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs; in that position, he directed economic policy at the Commerce Department and oversaw the planning and operations of the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Previously, he was co-founder and vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute, associate editor of U.S. News & World Report, and Legislative Director and Economic Counsel to former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY). Dr. Shapiro also was the principal economic adviser to Bill Clinton in his 1991-1992 campaign and an economic adviser in the campaigns of Barack Obama, John Kerry, and Al Gore. He has been a fellow of Harvard University, the Brookings Institution, and the National Bureau of Economic Research. He holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Harvard University, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an A.B. from the University of Chicago.
David Swerdlow, M.D., is the associate director for science, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), CDC, and
the lead of the NCIRD Office of Science and Integrated Programs and the NCIRD Infectious Disease Modeling Unit. He was the CDC Ebola Response, International Task Force lead in August and September 2014 and was incident manager (CDC lead) of CDC’s Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus Response in 2013 and 2014. He has also held leadership roles during numerous other CDC emergency responses, including CDC’s responses to cholera in Haiti, pandemic influenza A (H1N1), Hurricane Katrina, adverse events associated with smallpox vaccine, and the anthrax bioterrorism attacks. Before going to NCIRD, he spent more than a decade at CDC studying the epidemiology of foodborne diseases, and he has held leadership positions in the areas of viral and rickettsial zoonotic diseases and HIV/AIDS behavioral and clinical surveillance. His undergraduate education was at the University of California, San Diego, and he is a graduate of Harvard Medical School. Following medical school he completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Washington in Seattle, an Epidemic Intelligence Service Fellowship at CDC, a preventive medicine residency at the San Diego County Department of Health Services, and an infectious diseases fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. He is a clinical assistant professor of medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, and has worked in the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the Atlanta VA Medical Center since 1993. He is an adjunct assistant professor at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, where he has been the lead instructor of two epidemiology courses since 2000, and he is on the faculty council. He is on the HHS Executive Enterprises Committee, the HHS Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise Emerging Infectious Disease Working Group, and the Program Committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He is co-chair of the Pandemic Prediction and Forecasting Science and Technology Working Group, which is sponsored by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Science and Technology Council, and he is an academic editor at PLoS ONE. He has co-authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and government publications.
Jeffrey Ulmer, Ph.D., is global head of external research at GSK Vaccines, where he is responsible for identification and assessment of new opportunities for collaborative research. At Merck Research Laboratories and Chiron Corporation, he conducted seminal studies on
DNA vaccines, and novel vaccine adjuvants and delivery systems. He has published ~200 scientific articles, and is on the editorial boards of Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, Human Vaccines, and Expert Review of Vaccines. He received his B.Sc. with honors from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Regina and was the recipient of the Merit Award of the Society of Chemical Industry of Canada. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from McGill University and completed his postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Dr. George Palade in the Department of Cell Biology at Yale University School of Medicine.
David W. Vaughn, M.D., M.P.H., joined GSK Vaccines in 2007 serving as director and Clinical Lead for Pandemic Influenza Vaccines, then vice president and head of Global Vaccines Clinical Laboratories, and is now head of External R&D, North America. This followed a 21-year career with the U.S. Army where he served as the chief of the Department of Virology at the Armed Forces Research of Medical Sciences in Bangkok, Thailand, and then the chief of the Department of Virus Diseases, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. His final position in the military was as the director of the U.S. Military Infectious Diseases Research Program.
Rajeev Venkayya, M.D., is president of the Global Vaccine Business Unit of Takeda Vaccines. He is responsible for Takeda’s global vaccine business, including a long-standing business in Japan and a global development pipeline that includes vaccine candidates for norovirus and dengue fever, gained through the acquisitions of LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals and Inviragen Inc. Dr. Venkayya was previously the director of vaccine delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he was responsible for the Foundation’s top two priorities, polio eradication and new vaccine introduction. This included the Foundation’s engagement and investments in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and GAVI, and an investment portfolio of approximately $500 million/year. He also served as a member of the GAVI Board. Previously, Dr. Venkayya was special assistant to the president and senior director for biodefense at the White House, where he directed the development of policies to prevent, protect, and respond to bioterrorism and naturally occurring biological threats. He led the development and implementation of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, as well as presidential directives on medical countermeasures
and public health preparedness. He was 1 of 13 individuals appointed by President Bush to the nonpartisan White House Fellowship program. Dr. Venkayya was previously an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at UCSF. He was co-director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and director of the High-Risk Asthma Clinic at San Francisco General Hospital, and the principal investigator for a 5-year research grant from the NIH to study the immunologic mechanisms leading to asthma. Dr. Venkayya completed his fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine at UCSF. Earlier, he was a resident and chief medical resident in internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center. He completed his undergraduate and medical school education in the 6-year B.S./M.D. program at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honorary medical society. He is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Andrew C. Weber, M.S., is the deputy coordinator for Ebola response at the Department of State. In this role, Mr. Weber helps to lead diplomatic outreach to ensure a speedy, effective, and truly global response to this crisis. President Obama has declared the Ebola outbreak a national security priority. Mr. Weber has collaborated with partners from across the U.S. government and around the world to bring this epidemic under control. Mr. Weber served until October 2014 as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs, focusing on preventing, protecting against, and responding to weapons of mass destruction and terrorism threats. He supported international efforts to eliminate Syrian and Libyan chemical weapons and to strengthen global health security. Prior to his appointment by Obama in 2009, he spent 13 years as an adviser for threat reduction policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He played a key role in the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program. He served previously as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer, with diplomatic assignments in Saudi Arabia, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Hong Kong. Mr. Weber also taught a course on Force and Diplomacy at the Edmund A. Walsh Graduate School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He has an M.S. in foreign service from Georgetown and is a graduate of Cornell University. Mr. Weber speaks Russian and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Michael Wong, M.D., is senior medical director of infectious diseases at Sarepta Therapeutics. He hold a dual appointment as associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. His primary responsibilities include oversight of the discovery and development of the proprietary formulation of phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers as effective antiviral and antibacterial agents, and of the strategic alliances for the development of those products. Current applications of the antisense oligomers include medical countermeasures for filovirus infections, including Ebola and Marburg viruses and pandemic influenza A, and agents effective against a variety of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Previously, he served as director, transplant infectious diseases. at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and he remains active in clinical research on organ transplantation in the HIV+ recipient population. He is also a member of the Massachusetts Public Health Council, which is responsible for reviewing and approving regulations on public health policy for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This includes policies in response to endemic zoonoses such as West Nile Virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), as well as to potential or real epidemics such as the Ebola threat and pandemic H1N1. Dr. Wong completed his undergraduate education at the University of California, Irvine, and obtained his M.D. at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency at the Deaconess Hospital, and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Wilford Hall U.S. Air Force Medical Center. He has held staff positions at Wilford Hall, where he also served as the section chief for applied retroviral research, and the Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia, where he was associate hospital epidemiologist and director of HIV services.
