Rebecca Katz

Last updated

Rebecca Katz
Dr. Rebecca Katz.jpg
Education Swarthmore College (BA)
Yale University (MPH)
Princeton University (PhD)
Scientific career
Fields Biosecurity
International affairs
Institutions Georgetown University Medical Center
Thesis Yellow Rain Revisited: Lessons Learned for the Investigation of Chemical and Biological Weapons Allegations  (2005)
Doctoral advisor Burton Singer
Website Georgetown website

Rebecca Katz is a professor and director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center. She is an expert in global health and international diplomacy, specializing in emerging infectious diseases. From 2004 to 2019, she was a consultant for the United States Department of State on matters related to the Biological Weapons Convention and emerging infectious disease threats. Katz served on the Joe Biden presidential campaign's public health panel to advise on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contents

Education

Inspired by her parents' work to address HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Katz initially aspired to be a health economist. [1] She pursued an undergraduate degree in political science and economics at Swarthmore College, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1995. After graduating, she volunteered to work in maternal health in southern India, where she contracted Brucella melitensis and began to become interested in public health. [2] She then chose to pursue a Master of Public Health degree at Yale University between 1996 and 1998. There, she was introduced to the world of bioterrorism. She followed that interest in health security to Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, where she pursued a doctorate degree from 2000 to 2005 at the intersection of public health and national security.[ citation needed ]

The September 11th attacks and the 2001 anthrax attacks occurred while Katz was studying at Princeton. [1] In response to the anthrax attacks, Katz authored a working paper outlining the threat of biological weapons over time, as well as the public health infrastructure necessary to effectively detect and respond to an attack. [3] The attacks also led to increased interest and funding support for biosecurity, which enabled her to do an internship at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC. There, she was given access to documentation on an agent of Soviet-backed toxin warfare known as "yellow rain", which ultimately became the subject of her doctoral dissertation carried out under the mentorship of Burton Singer. [1] Her thesis, entitled Yellow rain revisited: Lessons learned for the investigation of chemical and biological weapons allegations evaluated yellow rain as a case study in chemical and biological weapons allegations, as well as for evaluating the protocols used to mitigate proliferation of such warfare. [4]

Career

Katz began consulting for the United States Department of State in September 2004, working there until 2019. [1] She specialized in issues related to the Biological Weapons Convention, a disarmament treaty signed 1975 to ban biological warfare. [5] Since 2007, Katz has also worked on implementing the International Health Regulations (IHR), which are a legally binding instrument of international law to promote international cooperation and help countries prepare for and respond to public-health emergencies. [6]

During her tenure at the State Department, Katz also became an associate professor at George Washington University from 2006 to 2016. In July 2016, she began an appointment associate professor position at Georgetown University and was promoted to professor in July 2019. There, she also became the director for the newly formed Center for Global Health Science and Security and has overseen the launch of the center's Masters program. [7]

In the wake of the 2019 Ebola virus disease outbreak in Tanzania, Katz also advocated to address gaps in the IHR and convene regular review conferences to discuss the potential for outbreaks, thus bolstering the ability of the World Health Organization to address emerging epidemics proactively. [5] [8] In light of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, Katz has again advocated for stronger international regulations to more effectively address outbreaks. [9] [10] In late January 2020, she advocated that the WHO should declare COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as a signal to the international community to launch a coordinated public health response. [11] She and megacity expert Robert Muggah also co-authored recommendations for how to evaluate the preparedness of cities to address and mitigate infectious disease outbreaks. [12] [13]

Katz has contributed her expertise to advising a number of groups on strategies to strengthen health security. She is a member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Commission on Strengthening America's Health Security, which conducts policy studies and strategic analyses to advance the United States leadership in global health security. [14] In 2020, she was also appointed by the Council on Foreign Relations to serve on its Independent Task Force on Improving Pandemic Preparedness, co-chaired by Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Frances Fragos Townsend. [15] On March 11, 2020, the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign announced Katz would be joining his campaign's public health panel to advise on COVID-19, along with Ezekiel Emanuel, David Kessler, Lisa Monaco, Vivek Murthy, and Irwin Redlener. [16]

In November 2020, Katz was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the Executive Office of the President of the United States and the National Security Council. [17] Since 2022, she has been serving on the Technical Advisory Panel of the joint World Bank/World Health Organization Pandemic Fund. [18]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bioterrorism</span> Terrorism involving biological agents

Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents include bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same way as in biological warfare. Further, modern agribusiness is vulnerable to anti-agricultural attacks by terrorists, and such attacks can seriously damage economy as well as consumer confidence. The latter destructive activity is called agrobioterrorism and is a subtype of agro-terrorism.

Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful organisms intentionally or unintentionally outside their native range and/or within new environments. In agriculture, these measures are aimed at protecting food crops and livestock from pests, invasive species, and other organisms not conducive to the welfare of the human population. The term includes biological threats to people, including those from pandemic diseases and bioterrorism. The definition has sometimes been broadened to embrace other concepts, and it is used for different purposes in different contexts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Osterholm</span> American epidemiologist

Michael Thomas Osterholm is an American epidemiologist, Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security is an independent, nonprofit organization of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The center works to protect people's health from epidemics and pandemics and ensures that communities are resilient to major challenges. The center is also concerned with biological weapons and the biosecurity implications of emerging biotechnology.

The International Health Regulations (IHR), first adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1969 and last revised in 2005, are a legally binding rules that only apply to the WHO that is an instrument that aims for international collaboration "to prevent, protect against, control, and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease in ways that are commensurate with and restricted to public health risks and that avoid unnecessary interference with international traffic and trade". The IHR is the only international legal treaty with the responsibility of empowering the World Health Organization (WHO) to act as the main global surveillance system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority</span> Government organization in Washington D.C., United States

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)' is a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) office responsible for the procurement and development of medical countermeasures, principally against bioterrorism, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats, as well as pandemic influenza and emerging diseases. BARDA was established in 2006 through the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) and reports to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). The office manages Project BioShield, which funds the research, development and stockpiling of vaccines and treatments that the government could use during public health emergencies such as chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attacks.

Biosecurity in the United States is governed by the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, which is part of the US Department of State. It obtains guidance and advice on specific matters relating to biosecurity from various other government agencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luciana Borio</span> Brazilian-American physician and public health administrator

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disease X</span> Placeholder infectious disease name from the WHO

Disease X is a placeholder name that was adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2018 on their shortlist of blueprint priority diseases to represent a hypothetical, unknown pathogen that could cause a future epidemic. The WHO adopted the placeholder name to ensure that their planning was sufficiently flexible to adapt to an unknown pathogen. Director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci stated that the concept of Disease X would encourage WHO projects to focus their research efforts on entire classes of viruses, instead of just individual strains, thus improving WHO capability to respond to unforeseen strains. In 2020, experts, including some of the WHO's own expert advisors, speculated that COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus strain, met the requirements to be the first Disease X.

Jennifer Nuzzo is an American epidemiologist. She is Director of the Pandemic Center and Professor of Epidemiology at the Brown University School of Public Health, having previously taught at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is also a Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health security</span>

Health security is a concept that encompasses activities and measures across sovereign boundaries that mitigates public health incidents to ensure the health of populations. It is an evolving paradigm within the fields of international relations and security studies. Proponents of health security posit that all states have a responsibility to protect the health and wellbeing of their populations. Opponents suggest health security impacts civil liberties and the equal distribution of resources.

The Global Health Security Index is an assessment of global health security capabilities in 195 countries prepared by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syra Madad</span> American pathogen preparedness expert

Syra Madad is an American pathogen preparedness expert and infectious disease epidemiologist. Madad is the Senior Director of the System-wide Special Pathogens Program at NYC Health + Hospitals where she is part of the executive leadership team which oversees New York City's response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the city's 11 public hospitals. She was featured in the Netflix documentary series Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak and the Discovery Channel documentary The Vaccine: Conquering COVID.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. Ryan (doctor)</span> Irish doctor and Chief Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme

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Pandemic prevention is the organization and management of preventive measures against pandemics. Those include measures to reduce causes of new infectious diseases and measures to prevent outbreaks and epidemics from becoming pandemics.

Alexandra Phelan is a faculty member of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University School of Medicine and an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University. She specializes in legal and policy issues that are related to emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, as well as health threats posed by climate change.

Planning and preparing for pandemics has happened in countries and international organizations. The World Health Organization writes recommendations and guidelines, though there is no sustained mechanism to review countries' preparedness for epidemics and their rapid response abilities. National action depends on national governments. In 2005–2006, before the 2009 swine flu pandemic and during the decade following it, the governments in the United States, France, UK, and others managed strategic health equipment stocks, but they often reduced stocks after the 2009 pandemic in order to reduce costs.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lane, Richard (June 22, 2019). "Rebecca Katz: leading light in global health security" (PDF). The Lancet. 393 (10190): 2483. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31352-2. ISSN   0140-6736. PMID   31227369. S2CID   189926464. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 24, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: An interview with Dr. Rebecca Katz". Ehsan.com. March 26, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. ↑ Katz, Rebecca (2001). "Biological Weapons: A National Security Problem that Requires a Public Health Response" (PDF). library.princeton.edu. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  4. ↑ Katz, Rebecca (2005). Yellow rain revisited: Lessons learned for the investigation of chemical and biological weapons allegations (PhD thesis). Princeton University. ProQuest   305421187.
  5. 1 2 Katz, Rebecca (November 12, 2019). "Pandemic policy can learn from arms control". Nature. 575: 259. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03452-0 (inactive January 31, 2024).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
  6. ↑ "A Reddit Ask Me Anything on Contagion, the International Response to the Coronavirus, and More". Slate Magazine. March 19, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  7. ↑ "GU Develops New Masters Program in Infectious Disease". April 4, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  8. ↑ Nam, Rafael (August 1, 2019). "Ebola outbreak highlights global rise in epidemics". TheHill. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  9. ↑ Gebrekidan, Selam (March 12, 2020). "The World Has a Plan to Fight Coronavirus. Most Countries Are Not Using it". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Coronapod: "Test, test, test!"". Nature. March 20, 2020. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00864-1. PMID   33742173. S2CID   232297557.
  11. ↑ Phelan, Alexandra L.; Katz, Rebecca; Gostin, Lawrence O. (February 25, 2020). "The Novel Coronavirus Originating in Wuhan, China: Challenges for Global Health Governance". JAMA. 323 (8): 709–710. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.1097 . ISSN   0098-7484. PMID   31999307. S2CID   210951290.
  12. ↑ Muggah, Robert; Katz, Rebecca (March 17, 2020). "How cities around the world are handling COVID-19 – and why we need to measure their preparedness". World Economic Forum. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  13. ↑ Wyman, Oliver. "Fighting Urban Pandemics". Oliver Wyman Forum. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  14. ↑ Morrison, J. Stephen; Bliss, Katherine; Bowen, David; Bristol, Nellie; Fischer, Julie; Fleischman, Janet; Glassman, Amanda; Katz, Rebecca; Kaye, Hannah; Kramer, Alisha; Nieburg, Phillip; Stash, Sharon; Summers, Todd; Twigg, Judyth (February 26, 2013). "Global Health Policy in the Second Obama Term". www.csis.org. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  15. ↑ Independent Task Force Report No. 78 – Improving Pandemic Preparedness: Lessons From COVID-19 Council on Foreign Relations, October 2020.
  16. ↑ Axelrod, Tal (March 11, 2020). "Biden campaign announces public health panel to advise on coronavirus". TheHill. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Agency Review Teams". President-Elect Joe Biden. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  18. ↑ Pandemic Fund: The Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) World Bank.
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