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Dr. Benjamin Park, CDC: speed is of utmost importance Apr 30, 2026

Show notes

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.

Expanding Access to Immunizations in the Americas | The CommonHealth Live! Apr 30, 2026

Show notes

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.

Dan Diamond, Washington Post: “A big hole that no one knows how to fill.” Apr 16, 2026

Show notes

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.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times: Reflections on HHS Secretary RFK Jr’s tenure Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

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.”

The Resurgence of Measles in the United States | CommonHealth Live! Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

Since January 2025, the United States has confirmed more than 3,000 cases of measles across multiple states - with South Carolina reporting nearly 1000 cases in just the first two months of 2026. The economic costs of these outbreaks pose a burden to local and state health agencies through hospitalizations, surveillance, and contact tracing, among other measures. Cases of pertussis are similarly high, with nearly 30,000 cases in 2025. Immunization coverage has stalled, and data indicate a rising trend of non-medical exemptions in states throughout the country. What is driving the resurgence of some vaccine-preventable diseases in the United States? Are we heading into a future of endemic measles, pertussis, and other disease outbreaks? How do the domestic outbreaks connect to global issues around immunization coverage and health security?

Listen to the recent CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security broadcast conversation with Katherine E. Bliss, Senior Fellow and Director, Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience, with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center and J. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director, CSIS Global Health Policy Center, regarding the current outbreaks, the threats posed by sustained disease transmission, and opportunities for regional and international collaboration to prevent and respond to health security challenges.

Emily Gibbons, Gilead Sciences: the lenacapavir partnership Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

Gilead Sciences, the Trump administration, and the Global Fund have joined in partnership to bring lenacapavir, the new twice-yearly injectable prevention tool against HIV/AIDS, to two million persons at-risk in ten African countries in three years. Emily Gibbons, Gilead Sciences, explains the back story—the determined work of the previous two and a half years to plan an effective launch that would have speed, support from communities, access to affordable volumes of the medicine, and implementation to deliver. She also speaks to the challenges ahead to see lenacapavir reach a meaningful scale to drive HIV infections down, especially among the most vulnerable populations.

Book Event: Deployed by Kevin De Cock Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

This episode of The CommonHealth features a discussion of the recently published book, Deployed: A Physician on the Front Lines of Global Health, by Kevin M. De Cock.

In Deployed, De Cock details an insider’s perspective confronting infectious disease crises from the AIDS pandemic to Ebola to Covid-19. He explores the intersections between medicine, global public health, and epidemiology throughout decades of public health evolution across continents and crises. De Cock draws from his experiences in diverse settings to offer practical guidance to a new generation of health leaders.

Andi L. Fristedt, Parkinson’s Foundation: “The data (on paraquat) is clear.” Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

Andi L. Fristedt, former senior official at CDC, FDA and the Senate HELP Committee, heads up a newly established Washington, D.C. office of the Parkinson’s Foundation. The Foundation acts in close allegiance with Michael J. Fox and his foundation; advocates; scientific and policy leaders such as Professors Okun and Dorsey; and new voices such as Harvard Professor Sue Goldie. It supports research on the genetic underpinnings of Parkinson’s Disease: 13% of Americans have genetic variants that place them at considerable risk. The foundation focuses on therapies and improving the quality of care; education of the public; and strengthening prevention against environmental toxins. The Washington office’s mandate is to “connect the dots” between science with those in Congress and the administration able to be champions and shape policy. There is progress: “We just know a lot more. And how to tell our story.” A paramount concern is the pesticide paraquat, which continues to be used widely in the United States, while outlawed in dozens of countries. Over 40 years of scientific research has made very clear the danger paraquat poses, especially to children. The EPA is currently revisiting paraquat, while many states spring into action.

Keith Poulsen, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory: “Emergency response is hard.” Feb 26, 2026

Show notes

Keith Poulsen, professor at the University of Wisconsin and director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, provides an update on the status of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), as pertains to dairy cattle, poultry, wildlife—and humans. Are we making progress in biosecurity in the dairy industry? Dairy may be decades behind, but keep in mind: “Cows are like walking tanks.” Keeping boots and clothes clean is essential to contain viral spread. Vaccines are often not a viable solution, given trade, economics and political realities. What forces are most impacting the affordability of eggs, beef, and other items? Impacting access to rural workforces, especially migrants? What have been the implications of major recent disruptions at USDA, CDC and FDA?

Measles Outbreaks and Elimination in North America | The CommonHealth Live! Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

Over the past year, outbreaks of measles, a highly transmissible virus, have affected thousands of unvaccinated people across Canada, Mexico and the United States. With more than 5,000 cases and sustained transmission during 2025, Canada lost its measles elimination status in October. And the United States and Mexico could lose elimination certification later this year. To what extent are current outbreaks driven by changing immunization practices or attitudes towards vaccination? How might losing measles elimination status impact health security in North America and beyond? What will it take to stop the current outbreaks and re-ignite progress towards global measles elimination?

Listen to this broadcast from the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security with Natasha Crowcroft, Vice President, Infectious Diseases and Vaccination Programs, Public Health Agency of Canada; William Moss, Professor and Executive Director of the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Daniel Salas, Executive Manager, Comprehensive Immunization Special Program, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), regarding measles outbreaks and elimination in the North American context and the implications of sustained measles transmission for regional and global health security. Katherine E. Bliss, CSIS Senior Fellow and Director, Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience with the Global Health Policy Center, will moderate.

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