(Postponed) Global Pandemic Response: Seven Months Update

In one of our last in-person programs of 2020, the World Affairs Council partnered with the Washington State China Relations Council for a February 13 rapid response program exploring the possible global health and economic implications of the spread of COVID-19 beyond China. Seven months later, the global death toll stands at least 814,000 (with over 180,000 of those deaths in the United States), economies around the world are in crisis, and global travel is restricted. We invite you to join us in a conversation with the same panelists from February, virtually now as we must, for a look at where our response fell short, what we must do to get out of this pandemic, the status of the creation and distribution of a vaccine, therapeutics, and what we’ve learned to better prepare for the next global health emergency.

Registration information will be announced shortly 

Panelists

Ann Marie Kimball is a physician and epidemiologist. A strategic adviser for Rockefeller Foundation, she served as technical and strategic lead for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation surveillance strategy formation. She was also senior program officer with the foundation, prior to which she served as professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health where she is now emerita. During her tenure at UW, Dr Kimball founded and directed the APEC Emerging Infections Network, and led research and training programs in Peru and Thailand. Her research focus on global trade and emerging infections earned her a Fulbright New Century Scholars award and a Guggenheim Scholars award. She is the author of Risky Trade: Infectious Diseases in an Era of Global Trade and has authored numerous scientific publications and served on several Institute of Medicine panels. Most recently she led the Rockefeller Foundation evaluation of their global disease surveillance network portfolio. She is a fellow in the American College of Preventive Medicine and member of the National Biosurveillance Advisory group, Centers for Disease Control.

Gabrielle Fitzgerald is the founder and CEO of Panorama, an action tank dedicated to achieving ambitious goals and solving the world’s toughest problems. Prior to founding Panorama, she directed the $100 million Ebola Program at the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, investing in creative approaches to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Gabrielle previously served as the director of Global Program Advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leading the team that advanced policy and advocacy agendas for the organization’s global issues. In 2014, she won the Gold Medallion award from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs for her leadership on malaria. Earlier in her career, Gabrielle led the public affairs strategy for HIV/AIDS at the United States Agency for International Development and served as the communications director for the U.S. Committee for Refugees. She also served as a speechwriter for President Clinton at The White House. Gabrielle is the chair of the board of the Washington Global Health Alliance and serves on numerous advisory committees and panels. She holds a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts from American University in Washington, DC.

Moderator

Jeff Hall is a Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversees Strategy, Planning, and Management for multiple teams within the Global Policy & Advocacy division. In this role, he leads cross-functional teams in supporting the development and execution of policy, advocacy, and communications strategies, including operational guidance, internal programmatic and financial alignment, and external investment support for issues related to global health and development. Most recently, he transitioned to support the foundation’s work across a breadth of programs in China, including coordination of a foundation-wide response to the recent Coronavirus epidemic. Raised outside of Washington DC, Jeff received his BA in Economics from the University of Virginia, and spent nearly 15 years working in public and private sector consulting around the US and across the globe, including the Middle East and South America. His desire to pursue more mission-driven work led him to the Pacific NW, where he now lives in Seattle, WA, prior to completing a move to Beijing in mid-2020.