Pandemic Influenza featuring discussants Ronald Atlas, David Nabarro and Margaret Hamburg. Stewart Simonson moderates.
The last major influenza pandemic occurred in 1918 and killed 20 to 40 million people worldwide. Nearly 90 years later, we are almost as helpless in facing this disease as we were back then. Experts from around the world will bring us up to date on how we plan to protect ourselves. From vaccine development to surveillance and detection to rapid response, this session will lay out the global plans to fight the next pandemic- Aspen Institute
Bio
Ronald M. Atlas
Ronald M. Atlas is Graduate Dean, Professor of Biology and Public Health, and Co-director of the Center for Health Hazards Preparedness at the University of Louisville. After receiving his master's and PhD degrees from Rutgers University, he became a postdoctoral fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he worked on Mars life detection.
He is chair of NASA's Planetary Protection Subcommittee, co-chair of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Task Force on Biodefense, and a member of the FBI Scientific Working Group on Microbial Genetics and Forensics. He also served as president of ASM and was a member of the NIH Recombinant Advisory Committee. His research has included development of detection methods for pathogens in the environment. Dr. Atlas is author of nearly 300 manuscripts and 20 books, and regularly advises the U.S. government on policy issues related to the deterrence of bioterrorism.
Margaret A. Hamburg
Margaret A. Hamburg is Senior Scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a non-profit organization that seeks to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
Dr. Hamburg previously served as NTI's Vice President for the Biological Program and now provides strategic advice and expertise in her current post. Before coming to NTI, Dr. Hamburg was Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She is a physician and expert in public health and bioterrorism.
Dr. Hamburg also served as Commissioner of Health for the City of New York and as Assistant Director of the Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science, the Intelligence Science Board and the Council on Foreign Relations.
David Nabarro
David Nabarro is the United Nations System Senior Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza in the UN Development Group. Dr. Nabarro was appointed to his current post by Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, in September 2005, and shortly thereafter was seconded to the position by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Prior to joining the UN, Dr. Nabarro had served for six years at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. He started in 1999 as head of the Roll Back Malaria Program, then was promoted, in 2000, to be Executive Director in the Office of the then Director-General. In 2002 he led the WHO cluster on Sustainable Development and Healthy Environments. In 2003 he was made head of the newly-created Health Action in Crisis group, and special representative of Director General Dr. Lee Jong-Wook. Dr. Nabarro previously held leadership positions in the UK Department for International Development as well as the British Government's Overseas Development Administration.
Stewart Simonson
Stewart Simonson is Vice President for Global Public Health Preparedness at the Constella Group, charged with oversight and strategic expansion of the company's preparedness programs. Prior to joining Constella, Dr. Simonson served as Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where he was the secretary's principal adviser on bioterrorism and other public health emergency matters. While at HHS, he also coordinated the public health preparedness activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
In addition, he represented HHS in negotiations with foreign governments and international agencies, and was instrumental in preparedness planning for Pandemic Avian Influenza. Dr. Simonson has received several awards, including The Surgeon General's Medallion and the FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Public Health Achievement Award. He holds a JD from the University of Wisconsin.
Most severe influenza outbreak of the 20th century. It apparently started as a fairly mild strain in a U.S. army camp in early March 1918. Troops sent to fight in World War I spread the virus to western Europe. Outbreaks occurred in nearly every inhabited part of the world, spreading from ports to cities along transportation routes. Pneumonia often developed quickly and killed within two days. Among the most deadly pandemics in history, it left an estimated 25 million dead; unusually, half the deaths were among 20- to 40-year-olds. The outbreak was later found to have been caused by an influenza virus known as influenza type A subtype H1N1.
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