Joe Biden’s transition team announces new COVID-19 task force
Joe Biden’s transition team announced Monday a new coronavirus task force.
“Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts,” Biden said in a statement, citing that the number of infections were rising in over 40 U.S. states. “The advisory board will help shape my approach to managing the surge in reported infections; ensuring vaccines are safe, effective, and distributed efficiently, equitably, and free; and protecting at-risk populations.”
The Transition COVID-19 advisory board will be led by co-chairs Dr. David Kessler, a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at UCSF, Dr. Vivek Murthy, who served as the 19th Surgeon General of the United States from 2014-2017, and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, an associate professor of internal medicine, public health, and management at Yale University and associate dean for health equity research at the Yale School of Medicine.
Serving as advisers to the Transition on COVID-19 are Dr. Beth Cameron, vice president for global biological policy and programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and former senior director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council staff, and Dr. Rebecca Katz, professor and director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center. They will work closely with the Advisory Board.
Members of the task force also include:
• Luciana Borio, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, and specializes in biodefense, emerging infectious diseases, medical product development, and complex public health emergencies. She also served as Assistant Commissioner for Counterterrorism Policy and Acting Chief Scientist at the Food and Drug Administration, and Director of FDA’s Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats.
• Rick Bright, an American immunologist, virologist, and former public health official, and former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority 2016-2020 and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services. He also previously served as an advisor to the World Health Organization and the United States Department of Defense.
• Ezekiel J. Emanuel, an oncologist and Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. From January 2009 to January 2011, he served as special advisor for health policy to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget. Since 1997, he has served as chair of the Department of Bioethics at The Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health.
• Atul Gawande, the Cyndy and John Fish Distinguished Professor of Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He previously served as a senior adviser in the Department of Health and Human Services in the Clinton administration.
• Celine Gounder, Clinical Assistant Professor at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and cares for patients at Bellevue Hospital Center. From 1998 to 2012, Dr. Gounder studied TB and HIV in South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi, Ethiopia and Brazil. She is a former Assistant Commissioner and Director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
• Julie Morita, Executive Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Morita helped lead the Chicago Department of Public Health for nearly two decades as medical director, chief medical officer and commissioner. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and has served on many state, local, and national health committees.
• Michael Osterholm, Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health and the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm previously served as a Science Envoy for Health Security on behalf of the State Department. From 1975 to 1999, he worked in the Minnesota Department of Health.
• Loyce Pace is the Executive Director and President of Global Health Council. nd health services worldwide.
• Robert Rodriguez graduated from Harvard Medical School and currently serves as a Professor of Emergency Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine.
• Eric Goosby, Professor of Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine. During the Clinton administration, Dr. Goosby was the founding director of the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest federally funded HIV/AIDS program.
Moar at: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/joe-bidens-transition-team-announces-new-covid-19-task-force-2020-11-09