Abstract: The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense released its first National Blueprint for Biodefense in 2015. After releasing many additional topical reports thereafter, the Commission released another National Blueprint in 2024, updating the original Blueprint and serving as a compendium of the Commission’s recommendations across its previously published reports. The Commission - composed of former elected and appointed officials - continues to educate Congress about our findings and recommendations, and to date, Congress has taken up, or otherwise addressed, many of the Commission's recommendations in statute, including the National Biodefense Strategy and the Biodefense Posture Review. The Obama, Biden, and Trump Administrations have also implemented a number of our recommendations, such as by developing and improving upon the National Biodefense Strategy, and incorporating much of the Commission's Apollo Program for Biodefense into the Biden Administration's American Pandemic Preparedness Plan. This presentation will provide a status update on where the National Blueprint stands in terms of uptake and implementation, new areas of Commission concern, and ways in which the Commission believes LLNL and other national labs can play pivotal roles in helping to defend the Nation against current and potential biological threats.
Dr. Asha M. George is a public health security professional whose research and programmatic emphasis has been practical, academic, and political. She is currently the director of the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense at the Atlantic Council, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. She previously served in the US House of Representatives as a senior professional staffer and subcommittee staff director at the House Committee on Homeland Security in the 110th and 111th Congress, as well as government contractors, foundations, and nongovernmental organizations. Dr. George also served on active duty in the U.S. Army as a military intelligence officer and as a paratrooper. She is a decorated Desert Storm Veteran. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Doctorate in Public Health from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and is a graduate of the Harvard University National Preparedness Leadership Initiative.
Technical Contact: Brad Roberts
Event Manager: Katie Thomas, thomas94 [at] llnl.gov (thomas94[at]llnl[dot]gov)
