Center for Health Security announces fellows accepted to Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative class of 2020

February 11, 2020 – The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security has accepted 30 professionals and scholars into its Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) fellowship program for 2020.

The most diverse class in program history was chosen from more than 130 applicants through a rigorous selection process. Throughout the year, new fellows will attend 3 multi-day workshops and additional in-person networking opportunities with some of the top minds in domestic and global health security.

“As the current novel coronavirus epidemic shows, preparing for and responding to biological threats requires talented people from a range of fields working together to take on many complicated challenges,” said Tom Inglesby, MD, director of the Center. “Our 2020 Emerging Leaders fellows are the rising leaders who will be part of preparing for and responding to biological threats in our future, and we are very excited to work with them in the year ahead.”

Now in its eighth year, the highly competitive part-time ELBI fellowship program inspires and connects the next generation of leaders and innovators in the biosecurity community. The program is an opportunity for talented career professionals to deepen their expertise, expand their network, and build their leadership skills through a series of sponsored events coordinated by the Center. This fellowship boasts more than 195 alumni who come from government, defense, private industry, science, law, public health, medicine, global health, journalism, the social sciences, and academia.

The 2020 ELBI Fellows are:

• Peter Ababwe Babigumira, Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University
• Christopher Bakerlee, Harvard University
• Sara Bazaco, Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch
• JJ Ben-Joseph, In-Q-Tel
• Isha Berry, University of Toronto
• Kelly Chafin, National Security Council
• Neil Cherian, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)
• Jennifer Garland, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Daniel Gastfriend, Office of Management and Budget
• Nicholas Generous, US House of Representatives, Committee on Homeland Security
• Hugh Green, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Gavin Harris, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
• Krutika Kuppalli, Stanford Health Care
• Allen Lin, Ragon Institute, Harvard University
• Andrew Liu, Harvard Medical School
• Danielle Lohman, Department of State
• T. Greg McKelvey, ASAPP
• Cassidy Nelson, Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford
• Martha Ngoh, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO)
• Resham Patel, Public Health – Seattle and King County
• Giovanna Pontes, Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
• Harsha Rajashekharaiah, Center for Humanitarian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Michelle Rourke, Griffith University Law School
• Sterling Sawaya, GeneInfoSec
• Sonya Stokes, Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine
• Allison Totura, US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID)
• Edward van Opstal, Department of Defense Human Systems Directorate
• Benjamin Wakefield, Centre on Global Health Security, Chatham House
• Kate Whittemore, Resolve to Save Lives
• Nathalie Zeitouni, National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC); Battelle National Biodefense Institute

Matthew Watson, Amanda Kobokovich, MPH, Caitlin Rivers, PhD, Crystal Watson, DrPH, Lucia Mullen, MPH, and Hannah Ottman-Feeney manage the ELBI fellowship program. It is supported by the Open Philanthropy Project.

About the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security:
The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security works to protect people from epidemics and disasters and build resilient communities through innovative scholarship, engagement, and research that strengthens the organizations, systems, policies, and programs essential to preventing and responding to public health crises. The Center is part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD.