Commission Members and Contributors
The CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security aims to chart a bold vision for U.S. global health security that addresses the acute vulnerabilities exploited by the coronavirus, at home and abroad.
(From left) Susan Brooks, Julie Gerberding, and J. Stephen Morrison.
Photo Credit: Liz Lynch
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- Commission Members
- Experts and Advisors
- Secretariat
Commission Members
Co-Chairs
Susan W. Brooks is an accomplished former Congresswoman and former US Attorney who has driven key legislation to reform emergency response, healthcare, manufacturing, technology innovation, higher education and public safety. She is known for her bipartisan relationships and as a catalyst for economic development. From 2013-2020, she served as the U.S. Representative for the 5th District of Indiana.
Dr. Gerberding joined the FNIH as CEO on May 16, 2022. She served before that as chief Patient Officer and Executive Vice President, Population Health & Sustainability, at Merck & Co., Inc. Dr. Gerberding previously served as Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2002 to 2009.
Members
Congressman Ami Bera, M.D., represents California’s 7th Congressional District. Rep. Bera serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, including as chair of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation, and is the vice chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Before being elected to Congress, Rep. Bera practiced medicine, served as Chief Medical Officer for Sacramento County, directed care management at a seven-hospital system, and taught medicine at the University of California, Davis.
Asaf Bitton, M.D., M.P.H., is the executive director of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is a national and global expert on primary care policy, financing, and delivery.
Vice Adm. Raquel Bono is a senior executive leader nationally recognized across public, private and federal sectors. Over 20 years front-line leadership in the Department of Defense (DoD) that culminated in appointment to director, Defense Health Agency. After military service, gubernatorial appointee as Washington State’s director for COVID-19 healthcare system response and pandemic management. Board-certified trauma surgeon. First Asian- American female promoted to Navy Vice Admiral (3-star).
Congressman Tom Cole is the current representative from the 4th district of Oklahoma. Presently serving in his tenth term, Congressman Cole was elected to Congress in 2002. In Congress, he is recognized as an advocate for taxpayers and small business, a proponent for strong national defense, and a leader in promoting biomedical research.
Ambassador Mark Dybul is the faculty director of the Center for Global Health Practice and Impact at the Georgetown University Medical Center, which seeks to work with international partners to respond to pressing global health challenges. A well-recognized global health expert and humanitarian, Dybul has served as head of both the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and PEPFAR.
Tom Frieden is President and Chief Executive Officer of Resolve to Save Lives, a $225 million, 5-year initiative housed at Vital Strategies, a non-profit global health organization working toward the vision that all people are protected by a strong public health system. Dr. Frieden was Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2009 to 2017.
Nikolaj Gilbert is president and chief executive officer of PATH and managing director of PATH’s Swiss subsidiary, Foundation for Appropriate Technology in Health. He brings to his roles more than 20 years of international experience as a leader, strategist, and director of complex partnerships. His expertise spans health, peacebuilding, humanitarian aid, and development solutions.
Dr. Margaret Hamburg is an internationally recognized leader in public health and medicine, who currently serves as chair of the NTI | bio Advisory Group. She previously served as foreign secretary of the National Academy of Medicine and is a former Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), having served for almost six years.
Ambassador Karl Hofmann is the President and CEO of Population Services International (PSI), a non-profit global health organization based in Washington, D.C. PSI operates in over 50 countries worldwide, with programs in family planning and reproductive health, malaria, water and sanitation, HIV, and non-communicable diseases. Prior to joining PSI, Mr. Hofmann was a career American diplomat for 23 years.
LTG Patricia (Patty) D. Horoho, Retired, is the Chief Executive Officer of OptumServe, the end-to-end federal business of Optum and UnitedHealth Group. Patty is a values-based servant leader whose life’s calling is to improve the U.S. health care system, focused in the areas of health care delivery and health disparities. Patty’s distinguished professional career includes 33 years with the U.S. Army, retiring as a Lieutenant General, the 43rd Army Surgeon General and Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command.
Richard Hudson represents North Carolina’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives where he serves in congressional leadership as Conference Secretary. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee focused on improving health care and creating jobs. As Fort Bragg’s Congressman, Rep. Hudson also works to ensure our troops, their families and veterans have healthcare and resources they deserve. He, his wife Renee, and their son Lane live in Concord.
Tom Inglesby is the Director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Inglesby is also Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a Joint Appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Seth G. Jones is a senior vice president, Harold Brown Chair, director of the International Security Program, and director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He leads a bipartisan team of over 50 resident staff and an extensive network of non-resident affiliates.
A Silicon Valley medical device entrepreneur, Fred is Managing Director of Incept LLC, a health sciences innovations accelerator, founded in 1998. Incept has founded 23 medical companies (16 with exits), in which Fred has served as an executive and/or a director. For more than 30 years, Fred has held management and executive positions in both large and small medical technology enterprises.
Dr. Jenelle Krishnamoorthy is the Vice President and Head of Global Public Policy, Corporate Affairs at Merck & Co., Inc. and is trained as a licensed clinical psychologist with deep expertise in domestic and global health policy. Jenelle leads regional and therapeutic asset teams globally and is responsible for the development and execution of Merck’s positions on cross-cutting public policy issues for all the medicines and vaccines that are produced by Merck for human and animal health.
Ramneek is responsible for partnering with Government and developing impactful policy to support scientific innovation and delivery of medicines to patients. Priority areas include: Global Health, Innovation, Life Sciences and AMR.
Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath assumed the leadership of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) on June 1, 2020. A medical doctor and molecular immunologist by training, Dr. McMurry-Heath becomes just the third leader of the world’s largest biotechnology advocacy group since BIO’s founding in 1993. Based in Washington D.C., BIO represents 1,000 life sciences companies and organizations from 30 countries.
Trevor Mundel is the president of the Global Health Division at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he leads the foundation’s efforts to develop high-impact interventions against the leading causes of death and disability in developing countries. Previously, Trevor was global head of development with Novartis.
Senator Patty Murray is the senior Senator from the state of Washington. Serving as a member of Senate Democratic leadership since 2007, Senator Murray has established herself as a tireless and effective leader on education, transportation, budget issues, port security, healthcare, women, and veterans’ issues. Senator Murray is the Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and a senior member of both the Appropriations and Veterans Affairs Committees.
General (Retired) David M. Rodriguez served over 40 years in the US Army with his final assignment being the Commander of the United States Africa Command. A native of West Chester Pennsylvania, he earned his commission from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York in 1976. General Rodriguez has commanded at every level of the US Military and his commands included 4 years in combat at the 2 and 3 star level. He also served as the Senior Military Advisor to Secretary of Defense Gates as a 3 star. His education includes a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the United States Naval War College and a Master of Military Art and Science from the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
Stephanie Segal is a non-resident senior associate of the CSIS Economics Program, where her research interests include economic competitiveness, U.S.-China economic relations, and the role of international financial institutions in the global economy.
Congresswoman Lauren Underwood represents Illinois’ 14th Congressional District. Rep. Underwood serves on the House Committee on Appropriations and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Before being elected to Congress, Rep. Underwood worked with a Medicaid plan in Chicago and served as a Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Senator Todd Young represents the state of Indiana. He currently serves on the U.S. Senate Committees on Finance; Foreign Relations; Commerce, Science & Transportation; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Juan Zarate is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), chairman and co-founder of the Financial Integrity Network, and a visiting lecturer in law at the Harvard Law School.
Experts and Advisors
Katherine E. Bliss is Senior Fellow and Director of Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center. She brings her expertise in the social sciences, Latin American studies, and international relations to her work analyzing U.S. government support for health programs in low- and middle-income countries. She is particularly interested in how political and cultural perspectives shape approaches to such global health challenges as HIV/AIDS and vaccine-preventable diseases.
Rocco Casagrande is the Chair of the Board of Gryphon Scientific and a widely respected thought leader on defense against weapons of mass destruction and managing the safety and security risks of cutting-edge biological research. Dr. Casagrande began his public-sector career as a U.N. weapons inspector in pre-war Iraq where he led the U.N.'s biological analysis laboratories.
Dr. Thomas Cullison is a senior associate with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. During his 38-year naval career, culminating as deputy surgeon general of the Navy, he was active in disaster management, international health engagement, graduate medical education, and health policy
Janet Fleischman is a senior associate with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where she focuses on women’s global health and U.S. policy. She is also an independent consultant who has worked for many organizations addressing the health of women and girls, gender-based violence, family planning, and HIV/AIDS.
Amanda Glassman is executive vice president and senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. Her research focuses on priority-setting, resource allocation and value for money in global health. Previously, she served as director for global health policy at the Center from 2010 to 2016, and principal technical lead for health and other positions at the Inter-American Development Bank for 14 years.
Yanzhong Huang is a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a professor and the director of global health studies at Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy and International Relations. His most recent book, Toxic Politics: China’s Environmental Health Crisis and Its Challenge to the Chinese State, was published in 2020.
Jennifer Kates is Vice President and Director of Global Health & HIV Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, where she oversees the Foundation’s policy analysis and research focused on the U.S. government’s role in global health and on the global and domestic HIV epidemics.
Ambassador Jimmy Kolker is a non-resident senior associate with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center. He retired in January 2017 as Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he served as the Department’s chief health diplomat. His 30-year State Foreign Service career included ambassador posts in Burkina Faso and Uganda.
David A. Relman is the Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor in the Departments of Medicine, and of Microbiology & Immunology, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He is also Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System in Palo Alto, California.
Carolyn Reynolds is a senior associate with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and an expert adviser to the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. She is co-founder of the Pandemic Action Network, a network of 40+ organizations around the world whose mission is to drive collective action to end Covid-19 and ensure the world is better prepared for future pandemics.
Jeffrey L. Sturchio is a senior associate with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Jeff is a global health thought leader and trusted counselor for senior leaders in the private sector, multilateral organizations, governments, NGOs, and foundations.
Secretariat
Humzah Khan is a research associate for the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he supports the health security portfolio. Humzah joined CSIS as an intern with the Middle East Program. Prior to joining CSIS, Humzah designed a course on pre-hospital triage for a Jordanian nongovernmental organization and conducted research projects in Karachi, Pakistan, on human migration and in Mérida, Mexico, on Chagas Disease. He is fluent in Urdu and has advanced proficiency in Arabic and Persian. Humzah holds a BS in public health and Middle Eastern studies from Tulane University.
Michaela Simoneau is an associate fellow for global health security with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She previously supported the immunization, polio, and nutrition portfolios. Prior to joining CSIS, she worked on projects concerning antimicrobial stewardship, conflict resolution, human rights, and maternal and child health in Coimbatore, India. Ms. Simoneau holds a BS in biology and international studies from Boston College, where she completed her thesis on the Rohingya refugee crisis.
J. Stephen Morrison is senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and director of its Global Health Policy Center. Dr. Morrison writes widely, has directed several high-level commissions, and is a frequent commentator on U.S. foreign policy, global health, Africa, and foreign assistance.