The CommonHealth

Episodios

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  Aurélia Nguyen, CEPI: "Vaccines will be part of the solution" to the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak 23.07.2026 41m

  Aurélia Nguyen, Dep. CEO of CEPI (Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) shares her unusual personal and career story, including working with Andrew Witty at GSK, and with Seth Berkley at GAVI during Ebola in West Africa 2014-2015 and later during the COVID-19 pandemic when she managed the COVAX facility. "It was incredibly difficult." CEPI's 3.0 strategy focuses on viral families; technologies and platforms; and networks to rapidly conduct clinical trials and begin manufacturing. CEPI swung rapidly into action with the advent of the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in Ituri, DRC. It struck a promising $50 million partnership with the Department of State in support of its work to accelerate development of four vaccine candidates. Clinical trials are beginning and will advance in the fall in the hot zone in eastern DRC. Mistrust and insecurity require intensive community engagement. Even with US and EU support, CEPI still strives to fill an estimated $130 million gap over the next 6-9 months. Her biggest worry? Cases have doubled in just 23 days. We are not yet able to gauge the true scale of the outbreak. 
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  Ken Isaacs, Samaritan’s Purse: "What they need are Ebola fighters." 13.07.2026 28m

  Samaritan’s Purse (SP) has a well-established hospital and deep community ties in DRC's Ituri province. Vice President Ken Isaacs describes how SP pivoted during the unfolding Ebola outbreak, launching Ebola treatment centers. Humanitarian assistance reaches close to 200,000. Health workers have been very vulnerable to infection. "We have lost three." Expansion of international staff requires coping with the possibility of a 21-day isolation period before returning home. "What they need are Ebola fighters." Addressing malaria is essential. There is not yet a clear path to take care of international staff that get sick. If the U.S. facility in Kenya served a wide array of international Ebola fighters, that would be well received.
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  Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme: Ebola outbreak in Ituri, Congo "a perfect storm." 07.07.2026 39m

  Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, spent several weeks in the hot zone in eastern Congo, mobilizing the international response to the late-discovered Ebola outbreak. Establishing community trust and confidence is the single most urgent challenge across all activities. At the six-week point, the response is scaling. However, "We have to be humble." "We are nowhere yet where we want to be." There is now a high-level UN figure in eastern Congo charged with addressing the complex security challenges. The absence of advanced US technical expertise in the deliberations and response, following the US withdrawal from WHO, is "strange." "Everyone pays a price." 
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  CommonHealth Live! with Rep. Ami Bera 30.06.2026 45m

  In this episode of the CommonHealth Live! series, J. Stephen Morrison sits down with Representative Ami Bera (CA-06) to discuss the future of U.S. global health security strategy in an era of redefined alliances, geopolitical competition, and the rise of transformative but disruptive technologies such as AI.  What is the future of global health assistance under the new structure created by the U.S. Health Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs)? How is this model reshaping the role of the State Department and the CDC in global health, and how is it playing out in the context of the unfolding Ebola outbreak? How durable is this compact model, and does it align with long-term strategies Congress is pursuing in other foreign assistance domains, including for critical minerals under the DOMINANCE Act? As the United States pursues a more robust industrial policy in the name of stronger national security, how can it maintain reasonable channels for cooperation with China in the highly interdependent bioeconomy?  
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  Dr. Gerald Parker: New World Screwworm arrives —"sometimes there is bureaucratic inertia." 30.06.2026 37m

  Dr. Gerald Parker, an acclaimed biodefense/One Health expert and high-ranking official across several administrations, experienced New World screwworm (NWS) as a boy in Texas while assisting his veterinarian father treat pets invaded by the parasite. Michaela Simoneau, CSIS Fellow, joined the conversation. In the late 1950s, the scaled introduction of sterile male flies — 50 million per week — was a brilliant scientific discovery, combined with a public private partnership with the ranching community. NWS was cleared from the United States by 1966, and from Mexico and Central America by 2006. The barrier began to decay in this decade, a function of migration, illicit cattle trafficking, a decline in the effectiveness of the sterile flies, Covid interruptions, and complacency and bureaucratic inertia. NWS has now arrived in Texas and New Mexico. The race is now fully on to restore control. We need an "Operation Warp Speed" mentality to advance multiple technological innovations, diplomacy, financing, a massive expansion of flies — perhaps as high as one billion per week.
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  Jamie Bay Nishi, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH): “We can’t have the same three CDC epidemiologists managing the world’s crises.” 25.06.2026 39m

  Jamie Bay Nishi, the dynamic CEO of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), is absorbed with the question: how do we navigate all the changes in government policy and programs and hold the global health community together? That includes philanthropies, universities, and companies. OMB’s proposed “Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance,” a 400-page document, would expand political oversight and weaken the authority of scientific advisory groups, changes that would alter the scientific research enterprise and create uncertainties. A 45-day period for comment is too little time to understand what is in the document and the ramifications if its proposed actions were enacted. It could further stigmatize collaboration with China. The June 3 White House Executive Order to reclassify the federal workforce will weaken career protections of GS-15 workers, leaving them open to firing at-will. CDC’s overseas country offices are to transition to a fee-for-service model, as part of the America First Global Health Strategy. This will not be sufficient to guarantee a sustainable work force, which requires a reliable surge capacity in CDC headquarters at Atlanta and stable expert in-country staff. It is incumbent upon Congress to change the funding scheme for CDC overseas experts and its surge capability.
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  Declan Walsh, NYT Africa Correspondent: "It all boils down to two factors, conflict and gold." 24.06.2026 28m

  Declan Walsh, the acclaimed New York Times Africa correspondent, visited the hot zone of the Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from May 22 to June 12, the "perfect petri dish." How to explain the "enormous lag" in acknowledging the outbreak and responding to it? "It all boils down to two factors, conflict and gold."  Will the outbreak grow exponentially or burn out? Insecurity will dominate, but it is not at all certain how that is to be managed. Things have begun to go better in expanding testing and treatment capacities, while contact tracing lags, at just over 50%. There are worries that the outbreak is spreading already from Ituri into North Kivu province, potentially into areas controlled by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the Uganda-origin Islamist armed group. Interest is rising inexorably in seeking a cease-fire, given the acute vulnerability of health and emergency assistance providers. The United States is now coming in strong with over $700m in investments, but on a parallel track, separate from the incident management mechanism run by WHO and the Africa CDC, which is stirring some tensions with Congolese authorities. The U.S. effort to create a treatment unit on a remote air base in Kenya has generated considerable protests and political challenges for Kenyan President Ruto.
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  Dr. Salim Abdool Karim, Chair, Africa CDC Emergency Consultative Group: "Congolese doctors know how to treat Ebola patients." 22.06.2026 30m

  Dr. Salim Abdool Karim, the renowned South African epidemiologist, chairs the Africa CDC Emergency Consultative Group. In that role, he just completed a visit to Bunia, capital of Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, site of the dangerous Ebola outbreak. His focus included laboratories, test centers, isolation units, along with PPE, safe, dignified burials, contact tracing, the WHO/Africa CDC Incident Management Team, and security challenges. The United States has made major commitments, but US experts and US-funded groups operate outside the IMT. The moment you arrive in Buria, it is very obvious you are inside a conflict zone. Care providers—true heroes—are rushing in. They are "fire fighters running into the fire."
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  Strengthening Vaccine Production and Access to Routine Immunizations in Sub-Saharan Africa | The CommonHealth Live! 17.06.2026 55m

  Two years since the launch of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), a financial mechanism that invests in commercially viable manufacturing efforts on the continent, what progress has been made in the effort to produce 800 million vaccines in Africa by 2035? Where are there opportunities for strengthening access to routine immunizations for vulnerable populations, including the 6.7 million zero-dose children in the region, along with those living in fragile and conflict-affected areas? And how can the AVMA, which was developed in response to the region’s challenges in securing access to Covid-19 vaccines during the global pandemic, help build countries’ resilience in the face of current and future disease outbreaks? Please join the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security for a broadcast conversation with Katherine E. Bliss, Director and Senior Fellow, Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience, with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, Farrah Losper, Chief Commercial Officer at Biovac and Chairperson of the Board of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative, Folake Olayinka, Director of Immunization, Africa CDC, Shanelle Hall, Principal Advisor to the Director General, Africa CDC, and David Kinder, Head of Development Finance at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, regarding the progress of the AVMA and contributions to the immunization landscape in the Africa region. 
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  Dr. Jeffrey Gold, President of the University of Nebraska: “Containing outbreaks is always in our national interest.” 11.06.2026 39m

  Dr. Jeffrey Gold, President of the University of Nebraska, details the evolving experience of caring for the 16 Americans evacuated from the Dutch ship, the HV Hondius, following an outbreak on the ship of the Andes strain of the hantavirus. The American passengers were successfully settled May 11 at both the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s National Quarantine Unit (the sole such entity in the United States) and its Biocontainment Unit. These capabilities emerged during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and became essential during evacuations of Americans during Covid-19 from Wuhan City and the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Anxiety and uncertainty emerge in every episode within Nebraska that require systematic efforts to reassure communities and sustain their confidence and trust. There is still no clear U.S. policy on whether American emergency workers operating overseas during outbreaks will be permitted to return home to such special care facilities.  
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  Professor Rebecca Katz, Georgetown University: the Health Security Operations Center during the FIFA World Cup 21.05.2026 30m

  Professor Rebecca Katz, Georgetown University, explains the Health Security Operations Center, the remarkable initiative she has spearheaded with others to enhance protection against dangerous outbreaks during the FIFA World Cup June 11-July 19 in the US, Mexico and Canada. She speaks to its genesis, mission, and coalition partners. Give it a listen! 
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  Professor Paul Spiegel, Johns Hopkins University: the release of the Lancet Commission report on health, conflict and forced displacement 20.05.2026 44m

  On May 20, Professor Paul Spiegel presents in Geneva the report of the Lancet Commission on health, conflict and forced displacement, conducted in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health (CHH.) The U.S. rollout will take place June 2 at the JHU Washington Center, 555 PA Ave NW. Paul speaks in this podcast to the genesis and mandate of the Commission, and the innovative and comprehensive way it went about its work over the past two plus years. Most importantly, he presents in detail its compelling recommendations and how they are to be advanced: (i) Invert the Power: put communities in charge: (ii) End Impunity: attacks on civilians, health workers and hospitals must have consequences; (iii) Fix the Money: humanitarian financing must follow need – not politics: and (iv) Uphold Health for All: war does not suspend the right to health – it makes it more urgent. Give it a listen!
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  Priya Basu, the Pandemic Fund: "Countries are not sitting on the fence. They are lining up." 08.05.2026 36m

  Priya Basu, head of the Pandemic Fund (est. 2022, based at the World Bank), reflects on the Fund's origin and evolution. "It exists to solve problems no one else was solving." Its $1.4 B invested over three years in pandemic preparedness and response has attracted seven times that much from partner governments and multilateral development banks. Finances remain fragile and voluntary. The hope is to grow threefold. The Fund, a Biden signature achievement, enjoys continued support from the Trump administration.
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  A Conversation with Dr. Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance | The Futures Summit 06.05.2026 47m

  Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar sat down with Katherine E. Bliss, Director and Senior Fellow, Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience, to discuss the Alliance’s ambitious plan of work for the next five years; the ways in which Gavi is reforming to improve efficiencies, promote country ownership and self-sufficiency, overcome resource constraints and meet the geopolitical challenges of the current moment; and how Gavi and other multilateral organizations, including the Global Fund, the World Bank, and CEPI, can better partner with donors, co-financing governments, and the private sector to increase access to lifesaving services, prevent deadly outbreaks, and improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations in low- and lower-middle income countries.  
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  The Lenacapavir Partnership and the Evolution of U.S. Foreign Assistance | The Futures Summit 05.05.2026 1h 12m

  In September 2025, the U.S. Department of State, Gilead Sciences, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced a novel partnership to procure and deliver lenacapavir—a groundbreaking twice-yearly injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention—to up to two million people over next three years.  On Tuesday, April 14, the leadership of these three entities convened to discuss the partnership now that doses have begun to arrive in country and have been delivered. Katherine E. Bliss, Director of Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience and Senior Fellow with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center moderated the conversation with Jeremy P. Lewin, Senior Official for the Office of the Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom at the U.S. Department of State; Daniel O’Day, Chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences; and Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.  Together they examined how this deal fits into a renewed U.S. strategy for foreign assistance focused on big bets and advancing American innovations around the world, what challenges lie on the horizon as implementation unfolds, and what additional innovations may accelerate scaling this effort. 
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  Dr. Eli Cahan: “Human beings are wired for stories.” 04.05.2026 40m

  Dr. Eli Cahan explains how he evolved into both a neonatologist and an accomplished, intrepid journalist, inspired by the likes of Atul Gawande and shaped by experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a balancing act, rushing between fixed medical facilities and airplanes. “We get to bear witness.”  His stories have covered anti-microbial resistance (AMR) among war fighters. An upcoming piece will cover the weakening of prevention and control over polio and the possibility of the reemergence of polio in America. With each, a focus is shaping opinion in Congress. Polio has become a major biosecurity issue and does indeed command attention in Congress and within the administration. The Pitt is fearless in exposing the problems people experience with American health care. At the same time, most health communications are frayed–what to do?
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  Dr. Benjamin Park, CDC: speed is of utmost importance 30.04.2026 33m

  Dr. Benjamin Park is Director of the CDC Division of Global Health Protection that protects Americans against dangerous outbreaks by strengthening partner countries’ capabilities to detect and respond. A personal and early professional epiphany was Benjamin’s role in leading the investigation in 2012 of a fungal meningitis outbreak that struck across America, killing dozens and gravely sickening almost 800. Subsequently—accelerating during Ebola and Covid-19—CDC’s Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) has been a powerful instrument in building capabilities of partner countries, through experts based for extended periods in CDC country offices. That has generated many dramatic stories—the core of the CDC outbreaks campaign—of success in ensuring that bad things do not happen. These are stories that many Americans do not know but deserve to know.  
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  Expanding Access to Immunizations in the Americas | The CommonHealth Live! 30.04.2026 53m

  During this year’s Vaccination Week in the Americas, which runs from April 25 to May 2, countries across the hemisphere will celebrate the lives saved through immunization programs, carry out special campaigns to increase immunization coverage among vulnerable populations, and conduct educational activities to encourage vaccine uptake, combat misinformation and sustain political will for preventing transmission of costly and deadly infectious diseases, such as measles, pertussis, and diphtheria.  Please join the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security for a broadcast conversation with Katherine E. Bliss, Senior Fellow and Director, Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience, with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, Daniel Salas-Peraza, Executive Manager, Comprehensive Immunization Special Program, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Mario Melgar, a pediatric infectious disease physician and Chair of the Global National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) Network, and Santiago Cornejo, Executive Manager, Regional Revolving Funds, PAHO, regarding the state of immunization programs in the Americas, what works in terms of closing gaps and expanding access to new vaccines, and the important roles played by schools, civil society organizations, and community groups in building and sustaining momentum for immunization programs.  
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  Dan Diamond, Washington Post: “A big hole that no one knows how to fill.” 16.04.2026 35m

  Dan Diamond, Washington Post reporter on the White House and health care, shares his reflections on President Trump’s swirling passions to reshape Washington’s built environment, with intense controversy surrounding the ballroom. What’s driving this, and where is it headed? On health, Dan reflects on where the Trump administration is heading, 16 months into its second term. Chris Klomp, the new COO at HHS, is emerging as a key figure attempting to bring order. It is not clear the multiple, piecemeal actions on lowering drug prices will deliver results that have meaningful political returns. Casey Means nomination seems doomed, perhaps CDC can escape its quagmire.
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  Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times: Reflections on HHS Secretary RFK Jr’s tenure 10.04.2026 38m

  Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, offers her reflections on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s tenure over the past fifteen months. His vaccine agenda has always been an “outlier”—“an unpopular agenda”—yet it remains at the core of his identity. He has now “hit a wall.” Casey Means’ nomination to be U.S. Surgeon General is stalled; the recruitment of a CDC Director is stalled; Judge Murphy has put a hold on the ACIP and changes in the children’s vaccine regimen. Why did the White House not see the downside? “Fundamentally President Trump does not really care about health.”  The MAHA movement, most interested in pesticides and eating healthy foods, “took a leap of faith,” signing on to Trump, yet is now outraged by the White House Executive Order declaring phosphorous—the base of the pesticide glyphosate—as a national security matter. Divorce may follow. “Rumors have been flying”  that Secretary Kennedy may be leaving after the midterms. Who will replace him?  “Mehmet Oz.”