The Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at Texas A&M University’s Bush School of Government & Public Service will hold its 2nd Annual Pandemic & Biosecurity Policy Conference at the National Press Club (529 14th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20045) on Wednesday, May 16, 2018 from 8:45 a.m.-11 a.m. The event will feature globally renowned pandemic and health security experts testifying to the gaps in our nation’s response plans and identifying specific policy changes and reforms necessary to improve pandemic and international health security response strategies.
“As we’ve seen with another Ebola outbreak in Congo this week, it’s not a matter of if another pandemic similar to the 1918 Great Influenza will occur, it’s a matter of when. It’s imperative that we do more nationally and internationally to prepare for such an event,” Scowcroft Institute Director Andrew Natsios said. “Threats affecting international health security including bio-threats and biosecurity hazards are also gaining momentum, evolving into a high-threat probability. This timely meeting will help determine our nation’s vulnerabilities and what we can do to mitigate a coming catastrophe.”
Keynote addresses will be given by:
- Senator Tom Daschle, current Panel Member of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Biodefense and former Senate Majority Leader;
- Dr. Robert Kadlec, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services;
- Mr. Tom DiLenge, President, Advocacy, Law, and Public Policy Division at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)
Featured Panelists/Respondents will include:
- Dr. Gerald Parker, Associate Dean, Global One Health, Texas A&M University;
- Dr. Mukesh Chawla, Advisor on Health, Nutrition, and Population to The World Bank Group;
- Dr. Rebecca Katz, Co-Director, Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown Univ.;
- Mr. Patrick Fine, CEO of FHI 360;
- Dr. Guy Vernat, CEO of the Merieux Foundation USA;
- Dr. Jonathan Quick, pandemic expert and author of new book entitled “The End of Epidemics;”
- Dr. Lindsey Shields, Smithsonian Institution on May 18th Opening of new “Outbreak” exhibit;
- Dr. Joseph Fair, Research Professor and Senior Fellow at the Scowcroft Institute;
- Ms. Kathleen FitzGibbon, Director, Office of Africa Analysis, U.S. Department of State; and
- Mr. Peter Morris, Div. Director for Preparedness, USAID/OFDA;
- Dr. David Brett-Major, Assist. Prof. of Prev. Medicine & Biostatistics, Uniformed Services University.
About the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs: The Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs is a research institute housed in the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. The Institute is named in honor of Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, USAF (Ret.), whose long and distinguished career in public service included serving as National Security Advisor for Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. The Institute’s core mission is to foster and disseminate policy-oriented research on international affairs by supporting faculty and student research, hosting international speakers and major scholarly conferences, and providing grants to outside researchers to use the holdings of the Bush Library.
