Virtual Event
Thursday, Jan 22, 2026 at 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST
Register here
Organizer: Program on Emerging Technology, Scientific Advancement, and Global Policy, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Syra Madad, DHSc, MSc, MCP, CHEP, is a Fellow with the Belfer Center’s Program on Emerging Technology, Scientific Advancement, and Global Policy and an internationally recognized public health and healthcare leader, biosecurity advisor, epidemiologist, and science communicator specializing in infectious disease preparedness and response. As the Chief Biopreparedness Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, the largest municipal healthcare system in the U.S., she leads efforts to enhance biopreparedness and special pathogen response. She is also the Principal Investigator at NYC Health + Hospitals Institute for Diseases and Disaster Management, driving innovation in infectious disease preparedness and mitigation.
Kristian Andersen, PhD, is a Professor at Scripps Research and Director of Infectious Disease Genomics at Scripps Research Translational Institute. A pioneer of real-time genomic epidemiology, he spearheads multiple large international collaborations investigating the emergence, spread and evolution of viral pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, Mpox virus, Zika virus, Ebola virus, West Nile virus, and Lassa virus. His work on infectious diseases is regularly highlighted in prominent news media, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, NPR, and others. Kristian earned his doctoral degree in immunology from the University of Cambridge and performed his postdoctoral work in computational genomics at Harvard University and the Broad Institute. Learn more about his work at andersen-lab.com.
