Oropouche, Drug Resistance, and AI in Outbreak Surveillance
How can we detect emerging disease outbreaks? Dr. David Hamer, GeoSentinel’s Surveillance Lead, discusses with Tom Mahoney, ALI Senior Fellow ’24, how his network uncovered a surprising Oropouche virus signal, why antimicrobial resistance worries him, and whether AI can help detect the next outbreak.
From Healthcare to Health: What Makes a Nation Healthy?
What makes people healthy beyond healthcare? In the second installment of this series, Martin Goldstein, Senior Fellow ALI '21, talks with Dr. Don Berwick, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr. Berwick widens the lens from the healthcare system to the conditions that shape health itself, exploring how fairness, agency, basic rights, and leadership can give everyone a real chance to realize their potential and what responsibility society bears for creating those conditions.
All Along the Watchtower: The Global GeoSentinel Network
Since 1995, GeoSentinel, a partnership between the International Society of Travel Medicine and the U.S. CDC, has grown to 68+ sites in 32 countries, tracking emerging infectious diseases among international travelers. Tom Mahoney, ALI Senior Fellow '24, spoke with Dr. David Hamer, GeoSentinel's Surveillance Lead, about how it detects outbreaks early and adapts to a mobile world.
Making Healthcare Better: Quality, Equity, and Purpose
How do we make healthcare better – and toward what end? Don Berwick begins with the healthcare system itself, examining why choosing what to improve is a moral declaration, how commitments to quality and equity shape that choice, and what the American healthcare system is actually designed to achieve and whom it is designed to serve.
Vaccines, Equity, and Public Trust: A Front‑Line View from Seattle to CDC ACIP
From Seattle’s first COVID-19 signals to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), Dr. Helen Chu, University of Washington Professor of Medicine, shares a front-line perspective on vaccines, health equity, and public trust in conversation with Tom Mahoney (ALI Senior Fellow ’24), exploring what must change to rebuild confidence and improve health outcomes.
Rethinking Preparedness in an Age of Emerging Public Health Threats
In this timely Q&A, Dr. Caitlin Rivers, Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation, joins Matt Nathan (ALI ‘20) to examine emerging infectious diseases from Ebola to hantavirus, alongside global health risks, public health funding, and pandemic preparedness in a rapidly changing global health landscape.
The Global Impact of Antibiotics Overuse in Livestock
Antibiotic resistance is a worsening global crisis, and livestock production plays a key role. Indiscriminate antibiotic use in animal agriculture fuels bacteria resistant to human medicines, threatening health and food systems, especially in low-income communities. With Tom Mahoney (ALI ’24), Dr. Aleks Engel of Novo Holdings examines impacts and urgent solutions to safeguard people and the planet.
Update on Mpox: Sierra Leone’s Fast, Adaptable, Community-Led Approach
As the world neglects the continuing threat of mpox, in West Africa the crisis remains severe. Sierra Leone recently reversed its surge of cases, but outbreaks have swept into other African countries. Fortunately, new digital tools give community leaders a fighting chance. Tom Mahoney (ALI ’24) interviews Dr. Pardis Sabeti and Colby Wilkason on turning science into grassroots action.
Crisis Leadership, Public Trust, and Vaccine Confidence: Walenksy’s CDC Response
The CDC’s leadership faced mounting challenges as trust faltered, disinformation spread, and vaccine confidence declined in a polarized environment. Communication missteps and evolving guidance weakened public understanding, while budget cuts constrained response capacity. Former CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky reflects on lessons in rebuilding trust, defending science, and restoring confidence through transparency, clarity, and steady leadership amid uncertainty and polarization.
Changes in US Government Vaccination Policy in a World of Growing Infectious Threats
The recent replacement of the entire CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) raises serious public health concerns, as explored in this interview with infectious disease expert, Dr. Camille Kotton, former ACIP member, by Tom Mahoney (ALI ’24).
Mpox – A Humanitarian Crisis Returns
With mpox re-emerging as a global health threat, particularly in resource-constrained African countries and with severe impacts on children, Dr. Marie Roseline Darnycka Belizaire of the WHO examines the rapid resurgence since the 2022 outbreak, inequities in the response, and strategies for addressing the crisis through collaboration and community-centered interventions.
The Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis – Reexamining the Incentives
As antimicrobial resistance becomes one of the most worrisome challenges to global public health, Dr. Emilio Emini, former CEO of the Gates Medical Research Institute, examines root causes and hopeful pathways to address the crisis, from foundational biology and private sector incentives to public policy and the need for social impact investment.