Jassi Pannu

Jassi Pannu
Other names	Jaspreet Pannu
Education	McGill University (BSc) Stanford University (MD)
Scientific career
Fields	Biosecurity, Health security, Artificial intelligence
Institutions	Stanford University (2014–2025) Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security (2025–present)
Academic advisors	Tom Inglesby
Website	Lab website

Jassi Pannu is an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She specializes in global health security and biosecurity, pandemic prevention and preparedness, and emerging technology security and governance. ^[1]

Education and early career

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pannu worked as a front-line physician. ^[1] Her early work and insights during the COVID-19 pandemic are described in the book Moral Ambition by Rutger Bregman. ^{[2] [3]}

Research

She has advocated for increased biosafety and biosecurity oversight of pathogen research due to pandemic risks in the journal Science . ^{[4] [5]} Regarding biological laboratory oversight in the United States, she was quoted in The Economist as expressing concern regarding limited oversight of some private laboratories handling pandemic pathogens. ^[6]

Her writing on adapting innovation prizes to incentivize pandemic drug development was highlighted by economist Tyler Cowen. ^[7] She is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the American think tank IFP that bring ideas from progress studies to policymakers. ^[8]

In 2023, Pannu coauthored "What if There was Never a Pandemic Again?" in the New York Times as part of a series on pandemic preparedness begun by Bill Gates, ^[9] outlining technology approaches that could be used to prevent pandemics entirely. ^[10]

In 2024, Pannu was part of a working group of 38 international scientists and researchers cochaired by Nobel laureate Jack W. Szostak and John Glass that brought attention to potential future risks of mirror life ^{[11] [12] [13] [14]} which prompted international press coverage ^{[15] [16] [17] [18]} and international government attention ^{[19] [20] [21]} .

She has testified as an expert witness to the United States Congress on artificial intelligence and potential biosecurity risks. ^{[22] [23]} Her research on this topic ^[24] was cited in the International AI Safety Report authored by 96 artificial intelligence experts including Yoshua Bengio. ^[25] She served on a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee investigating the benefits and risks of dual-use artificial intelligence approaches for the design of biological systems. ^[26]

As of 2025, Pannu serves on the board of directors of the artificial intelligence for biology organization Biohub, ^[27] the primary philanthropic effort of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ^[28] .

Awards and honors

• Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Fellowship, 2022 ^{[29] [30]}
• Associate Editor of the journal Health Security ^[1]

Selected works and publications

• 2024 Working Group (2024). "Confronting risks of mirror life". Science. 386 (6728). doi:10.1126/science.ads9158.

• Bloomfield, Doni; Pannu, Jaspreet; Cicero, Anita; Zhu, Alex; Mg, Madelena; Lewis, Ashley; Bendavid, Eran; Asch, Steve; Hernandez-Boussard, Tina; Cicero, Anita; Inglesby, Tom (2024). "AI and biosecurity: The need for governance". Science. 385 (6711). doi:10.1126/science.adq1977.

• Pannu, Jassi; Swett, Jacob (2023). "What if There Was Never a Pandemic Again?". The New York Times.

• Pannu, Jaspreet; Palmer, Megan; Cicero, Anita; Relman, David; Lipsitch, Marc; Inglesby, Tom (2022). "Strengthen oversight of risky research on pathogens". Science. 378 (6625). doi:10.1126/science.adf6020.

• Sharma, Siddhanth; Pannu, Jassi; Chorlton, Sam; Swett, Jacob; Ecker, David (2023). "Threat Net: A Metagenomic Surveillance Network for Biothreat Detection and Early Warning". Health Security. 21 (5). doi:10.1089/hs.2022.0160.

• Pannu, Jaspreet; Barry, Michele (2021). "The state inoculates: vaccines as soft power". The Lancet Global Health. 9. doi:10.1016/S2214-109X(21)00091-7.

References

1. "Jassi Pannu". Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
2. Bregman, Rutger; Moore, Erica (2025). Moral ambition: stop wasting your talent and start making a difference (First ed.). New York: Little, Brown & Company. ISBN   978-0316580359.
3. "Mutmachende Bücher: Rutger Bregman und Rainald Manthe". chrismon.de (in German).
4. Pannu, Jaspreet; Palmer, Megan J.; Cicero, Anita; Relman, David A.; Lipsitch, Marc; Inglesby, Tom (16 December 2022). "Strengthen oversight of risky research on pathogens". Science. 378 (6625): 1170–1172. Bibcode:2022Sci...378.1170P. doi:10.1126/science.adf6020. PMID   36480598 . Retrieved 29 November 2025.
5. "Stanford Researchers Recommend Stronger Oversight of Risky Research on". cisac.fsi.stanford.edu. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
6. "An accidental discovery in rural California raised biosecurity fears". The Economist.
7. Cowen, Tyler (1 April 2020). "Running ahead of Pandemics: Achieving In-Advance Antiviral Drugs". Marginal REVOLUTION. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
8. "Jassi Pannu". Institute for Progress.
9. Gates, Bill. "I Worry We're Making the Same Mistakes Again". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
10. Pannu, Jassi; Swett, Jacob (28 May 2023). "What if There Was Never a Pandemic Again?". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
11. Adamala, Katarzyna P.; Agashe, Deepa; Belkaid, Yasmine; Bittencourt, Daniela Matias de C.; Cai, Yizhi; Chang, Matthew W.; Chen, Irene A.; Church, George M.; Cooper, Vaughn S.; Davis, Mark M.; Devaraj, Neal K.; Endy, Drew; Esvelt, Kevin M.; Glass, John I.; Hand, Timothy W.; Inglesby, Thomas V.; Isaacs, Farren J.; James, Wilmot G.; Jones, Jonathan D. G.; Kay, Michael S.; Lenski, Richard E.; Liu, Chenli; Medzhitov, Ruslan; Nicotra, Matthew L.; Oehm, Sebastian B.; Pannu, Jaspreet; Relman, David A.; Schwille, Petra; Smith, James A.; Suga, Hiroaki; Szostak, Jack W.; Talbot, Nicholas J.; Tiedje, James M.; Venter, J. Craig; Winter, Gregory; Zhang, Weiwen; Zhu, Xinguang; Zuber, Maria T. (20 December 2024). "Confronting risks of mirror life". Science. 386 (6728): 1351–1353. Bibcode:2024Sci...386.1351A. doi:10.1126/science.ads9158. PMID   39666824.
12. Adamala, Katarzyna; Agashe, Deepa; Binder, Damon; Cai, Yizhi; Cooper, Vaughn; Duncombe, Ryan; Esvelt, Kevin; Glass, John; Hand, Timothy; Inglesby, Thomas; Isaacs, Farren; Jones, Jonathan; Lenski, Richard; Lewis, Gregory; Medzhitov, Ruslan; Nicotra, Matthew; Oehm, Sebastian; Pannu, Jaspreet; Relman, David; Suga, Hiroaki; Sweere, Johanna; Szostak, Jack; Talbot, Nicholas; Wang, Brian (2024). "Technical Report on Mirror Bacteria: Feasibility and Risks". Stanford Digital Repository. doi:10.25740/cv716pj4036.
13. "A new report warns of serious risks from 'mirror life'". news.stanford.edu.
14. "Working Group". Mirror Biology Dialogues Fund.
15. "A 'Second Tree of Life' Could Wreak Havoc, Scientists Warn". The New York Times . 12 December 2024.
16. Moynihan, Thomas (15 September 2025). ""Mirror life" and the recurring nightmare of scientific apocalypse". Big Think.
17. Hunt, Katie (16 December 2024). "Mirror bacteria may constitute 'radical departure from known life,' scientists warn". CNN.
18. Ghosh, Sahana (28 December 2024). "Scientists warn of mirror bacteria risks". Nature India. doi:10.1038/d44151-025-00003-7 (inactive 22 December 2025).
19. "Mirror Life: Biosafety/Biosecurity Oversight Considerations". www.congress.gov.
20. "Mirror life". GOV.UK. 16 July 2025.
21. "Current developments in science and technology and their potential impact on international security and disarmament efforts: Report of the Secretary-General". docs.un.org. United Nations.
22. "Examining Biosecurity at the Intersection of AI and Biology". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
23. Pannu, Jassi. "Testimony of Jassi Pannu, MD" (PDF). US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
24. Bloomfield, Doni; Pannu, Jaspreet; Zhu, Alex W.; Ng, Madelena Y.; Lewis, Ashley; Bendavid, Eran; Asch, Steven M.; Hernandez-Boussard, Tina; Cicero, Anita; Inglesby, Tom (23 August 2024). "AI and biosecurity: The need for governance". Science. 385 (6711): 831–833. Bibcode:2024Sci...385..831B. doi:10.1126/science.adq1977. PMC   12158449 . PMID   39172825.
25. Bengio, Yoshua (25 January 2025). "International AI Safety Report". arXiv: 2501.17805 [cs.CY].
26. "Navigating the Benefits and Risks of Publishing Studies of In Silico Modeling and Computational Approaches of Biological Agents and Organisms – A Workshop". www.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
27. "Team, science leadership, board of directors, officers". Biohub. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
28. "AI drives dramatic expansion of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's funding to end all diseases". www.science.org.
29. "Center for Health Security announces fellows accepted to Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative class of 2022 | Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security". centerforhealthsecurity.org. 24 May 2022.
30. Hansen, Jamie (17 June 2022). "Jassi Pannu to join 2022 Emerging Leader in Biosecurity Initiative". Global Health.