Elizabeth Cameron is an American national security expert specializing in

biosecurity Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, etc.) to animals and plants in order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease. In agriculture, thes ...

biodefense Biodefense refers to measures to restore biosecurity to a group of organisms who are, or may be, subject to biological threats or infectious diseases. Biodefense is frequently discussed in the context of biowar or bioterrorism, and is generall ...

, and

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...

. She is a professor at the Pandemic Center of the

Brown University School of Public Health The Brown University School of Public Health is the public health school of Brown University, a private research university in Rhode Island. It is located along the Providence River, down the hill and about a quarter mile from Brown's central ...

. Previously, she served as Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense on the

White House National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Execut ...

staff.

Career

Cameron holds a BA in Biology from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Biology from the Human Genetics and Molecular Biology Program at the Johns Hopkins University. With the transition to the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...

in January 2021, Cameron was appointed as Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense to the newly reinstated directorate of the White House National Security Council staff. She returned to this office, which she had helped to establish during the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

. The directorate had been disbanded by the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

in May 2018, a decision that Cameron criticized in the Washington Post as having "contributed to the federal government’s sluggish domestic response" to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Her previous work in this role included contributing to the development of the

Global Health Security Agenda The Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) is an international effort operating in the field of infection prevention and control. A brainchild of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was launched in February 2014 by a group of 4 ...

, an international effort by 69 countries to address the threat of infectious diseases. Cameron was also responsible for writing the 2016 "pandemic playbook" for the Obama White House, including a list of priorities for pandemic preparedness and response, which was said to have been "ignored by the

rump Rump may refer to: * Rump (animal) ** Buttocks * Rump steak, slightly different cuts of meat in Britain and America * Rump kernel, software run in userspace that offers kernel functionality in NetBSD Politics *Rump cabinet * Rump legislature * Ru ...

administration". In 2017, Cameron assumed the role of Vice President for Global Biological Policy and Programs at the

Nuclear Threat Initiative The Nuclear Threat Initiative, generally referred to as NTI, is a non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. The American foreign policy think tank was founded in 2001 by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and describes itself as a "nonprofit ...

, a foreign policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, she co-led the development of the

Global Health Security Index The Global Health Security Index is an assessment of global health security capabilities in 195 countries prepared by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). His ...

, a health security preparedness ranking of 195 states. Between 2010 and 2013, Cameron worked in the Department of Defense, where she first served as Office Director for Cooperative Threat Reduction and later as Senior Adviser for the

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical & Biological Defense Programs, or ASD(NCB), is the principal adviser to the Secretary of Defense, Deputy Secretary of Defense and the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainm ...

. In recognition of her achievements, she was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service. Cameron is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

Media coverage

The appointment and work of Cameron have been featured in various media outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNBC, Politico, Wired, and Devex. Moreover, Cameron herself has authored opinion pieces for the Washington Post, The Daily Beast, and The Hill. She has also been interviewed about her work on the

80,000 Hours 80,000 Hours is a London-based nonprofit organisation that conducts research on which careers have the largest positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research. It provides this advice on their website and podcast, and ...

podcast.

Selected publications

* * * *

References

External links

Website of the Nuclear Threat Initiative's Global Biological Policy and Programs

Website of the Global Health Security Index

Website of the Global Health Security Agenda

Interview with Elizabeth Cameron on the 80,000 Hours Podcast
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Elizabeth Living people Year of birth missing (living people) United States National Security Council staffers Obama administration personnel Trump administration personnel Biden administration personnel Johns Hopkins University alumni University of Virginia alumni Brown University faculty