Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

Last week, the Center’s Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity (#ELBI) Fellowship met in DC for the first time this year. These talented Fellows will deepen their expertise, expand their network, and build their leadership skills through a series of events coordinated by our Center. This is the 12th class of Fellows since it was launched in 2012.

The Center’s Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity (#ELBI) Fellowship inspires and connects the next generation of biosecurity leaders and innovators. Our Managing Senior Analyst and ELBI Program Director, Amanda K. Mui, highlights the value and lasting importance of the professional relationships that fellows gain during the year-long program. Last week, ELBI 2025 Fellows met in DC. The next meeting will be a Research Symposium in July 2025 in DC.

Reflecting on the fantastic time I had with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity #ELBI2025 class in DC last week. Grateful for the connections made and the wealths of insights shared. My top takeaways from our time are: - The power of interdisciplinary collab: bringing together experts from diverse fields strengthens biosecurity solutions. - How incredibly inspiring and motivated folks still are despite the current geopolitical environment: dedication to advancing biosecurity remains unwavering. - Innovation is key: emerging tech present both challenges and incredible opportunities for global health security. We need to remember this. Really great to connect with colleagues old and new, and be part of the brilliant ELBI family! Looking forward to the July symposium!

The Elizabeth R. Griffin Program at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has a current Notice of Funding to Address Agricultural Biorisk Evidence Base Gaps with Applied Research. Applications are due April 14, 2025. More information can be found on our website.

Hot off the press: What could protect U.S. agriculture and people from H5N1 infections? A new ThinkGlobalHealth op-ed by our Senior Scholars Gigi Kwik Gronvall and Erin Sorrell, along with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health colleagues Meghan Davis and Andrew Pekosz is out now. A new type of #avian #influenza (H5N1) spreading among dairy cows could spill over and infect other species like humans. Despite existing biosecurity measures, the virus has already spread among hundreds of herds across 17 states. We must act now and increase surveillance, preparedness, and communications about H5N1. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/erPhJfi8? #HealthSecurity #BioSecurity #BirdFlu #Cows #H5N1

Colleagues! Are you interested in or working on topics related to One Health, policy, international security, and practice? There is still time to submit Health Security's Special Feature - One Health, One Future: Bridging Health Security! Deadline is March 31st.

Great to be with this year’s group of Fellows in the first meeting of this year’s Emerging Leaders In Biosecurity Initiative in Washington. It’s the 12th class of Fellows, and they’re from the US and 10 other countries. As a group they were so impressive, attuned to the moment and the serious challenges for major health security programs in the US and abroad, very engaged with each other and the many terrific people in our field who spent time with them this week. With all the upheaval and firings and budget cuts to so much that the health security field has worked on for many years, it was good to spend time with this group, and the 80 alumni program who joined for a dinner mid week. It was valuable to consider together how to deal with the problems and epidemic threats at hand, how to make the most of new technology while protecting against its downsides, and to think together about how programs could be more effective in making the world safer against health security challenges ahead.

Excited to share the first paper from my PhD dissertation! In this paper, we examined the volume, framing, and consequences of Russian false allegations at the 9th Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). We also provide guidance for how diplomats and policy makers can safeguard the Convention in the context of information manipulation. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the BWC's entry into force. I'm so grateful to have been able to devote a piece of my dissertation to one of the key pillars of the global arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament architecture.

Invoking Title 42, a pandemic-era border policy that permits the expulsion of migrants at the border, neither protects us from #infectious #diseases nor makes the U.S. border more secure. CHS Senior Scholar Amesh Adalja and colleague Agustina Vergara Cid write in a STAT op-ed that no evidence supports the claim that reinstating Title 42 benefits our health security but instead risks more undetected cases of infectious diseases entering our country. If we already have effective antibiotics to treat #tuberculosis or vaccines for #measles, does it make sense to use these diseases as a justification for invoking Title 42? What public health measures would actually strengthen #healthsecurity at the border? Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gZ-Tqa_a #HealthSecurity #InfectiousDisease #OpEd

Health security is about being prepared for disease outbreaks and preventing future epidemics. Even with COVID-19 infections decreasing, having a healthy supply of tests on hand is essential to tracking and treating new infections and potential variants. As our director Tom Inglesby said to the The Washington Post, “Destroying an asset that was paid for by the American people, that doesn’t make any sense(…) These diagnostics really help you make really good decisions, help families make good decisions about how to stay healthy.” Destroying COVID tests would only waste resources and slow down response time, putting millions of families’ health at risk. Read more ???