This podcast is part of the Elsevier celebration of the World Health Organization’s World Health Day whose aim is to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable – so everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health and well-being. April 7th 2023 marks the WHO’s 75th anniversary of World Health Day, with a focus of improving public health for all.
Patricia Osborn Senior Acquisitions Editor for Books in biomedical and translational science for Elsevier and Andre Wolff, publisher for the Pharma books portfolio were hosts for this program interviewing WHO officials, and editors for the Modernizing Global Health Security to Prevent, Detect, and Respond published by Elsevier.
The conversation evolved around the efforts and lessons learned from WHO’s experiences in dealing with global health crisis, including the COVID pandemic, and how worldwide health organizations are partnering to ensure fast and effective actions to prevent upcoming global health threats.
Panelist bios:
Dr. Stella Chungong, Director, Health Security Preparedness (HSP) Department in the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE)
Dr Chungong is the Director of the Health Security Preparedness (HSP) Department in the WHO Health Emergencies Programme (WHE), in Geneva. Prior to that, Dr Chungong worked at the national level, and at the global level in various capacities on surveillance and response systems strengthening, the International Health Regulations, and country preparedness for health emergencies. She is a public health specialist and holds a Masters degree from the University of Leeds, a Diploma of Community Medicine from the University of Geneva and a Doctorate of Medicine from the University Centre for Health Sciences (CUSS) in Cameroon. In her current role, she is responsible for country level health emergencies preparedness under the International Health Regulations (IHR). This position includes support to the States Parties Annual Reports
Dr. Carol J Haley, Adjunct Associate Professor of Global Health, Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
Carol received her PhD In biology (freshwater aquatic ecology) from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Virginia and currently is affiliated with the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University as an Adjunct Associate Professor. Early in her career she was a research assistant at the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, where she researched legal, scientific, economic, and social aspects of issues concerning Virginia’s waters. At the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, she reviewed and advised on environmental impacts of animal drugs, including drugs used in aquaculture. Later, as the Deputy Associate Director, Policy and Regulations at the Center, she managed the development of regulations and policy. Carol later joined Pfizer and retired from the company in 2019 as a Director in the regulatory affairs policy group, after serving in several other positions. In retirement she is continuing to pursue her interests at the interface of science and policy in the field of One Health and is a Trustee Emerita at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA. Carol lives in New York, NY.
Dr. Scott JN McNabb, Research Professor, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University
Before joining the U.S. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and serving the 2-year EIS residency in New Orleans, LA, Dr. McNabb worked for 13 years at the Oklahoma State Health Department. Most of his professional efforts have focused on serving those in underdeveloped, underserved global settings. Promoted to Distinguished Consultant and nominated for the CDC Charles C. Shepard Award, he completed the Senior Executive Services (SES) candidate development program and is certified by the Office of Personnel Management. From 2006 – 2008, he directed the Division of Integrated Surveillance Systems and Services, National Center for Public Health Informatics, CDC. Before retirement from CDC, he was Associate Director for Science; Public Health Informatics and Technology Program Office; Office for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services.
Now Research Professor at Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, he directed the King Abdullah Fellowship Program and was PI of the exciting, new Africa CDC Institute for Workforce Development. Jointly appointed in the Hubert Department of Global Health and the Department of Epidemiology at Emory, he holds an Adjunct appointment as Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and at the University of Georgia, School of Public Health. He has mentored 97 students through their MPH or PhD, plus 14 fellows through the CDC Public Health Prevention Specialists program and serves on the Editorial Board, Epidemiology and Global Health and in private practice at Public Health Practice, LLC
Affan Shaikh, Adjunct Instructor, Emory University; Visiting Scientist, National Academy of Sciences
Affan is a public health professional with interests in disease prevention, health systems strengthening, technology and innovation. With over ten years of professional experience, Affan’s work engages multilateral stakeholders including inter- and intra- governmental organizations, academic intuitions, NGOs, and communities in building local public health capacities, improving health outcomes, and increasing access. He has worked on the ground across 22 different countries, and during the peak of the MERS-CoV outbreak in Saudi Arabia and following the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone. Through his work, Affan is driven to strengthen health systems using evidence-based research. More recently he has supported the Africa CDC with their COVID-19 response through innovative public health applications. Through his work, Affan is driven to strengthen health systems using evidence-based research. He has had numerous teaching engagements with Emory University, the University of Michigan, and Columbia University, where he has taught courses on public health surveillance, oral communication, and scientific writing. He has successfully consulted with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Pakistan National Institute of Public Health, numerous Ministries of Health throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, and the World Health Organization. In addition to consulting, he serves as a Visiting Scientist for the National Academy of Sciences and was formerly an International Board Member to the Saudi Arabia Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. His latest book, “Modernizing Global Health Security to Prevent, Detect, and Respond” will be available early 2023 and presents a new vision for public health. Affan holds an MBA from Yale University, an MPH from Boston University, and a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles.
