HSPI | Policy Work | Hot Topics: Pandemic Influenza

Pandemic Influenza

The recent outbreaks of Swine Influenza illustrate how the issue of pandemic influenza is of critical and immediate concern. HSPI provides a multi-faceted look at this issue.

HSPI Publications

The H1N1 Influenza A Virus: A Test Case for a Global Response
The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute
The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services
May 1, 2009

Combating Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Terrorism: A Comprehensive Strategy
Frank J. Cilluffo, task force chairman and author, Sharon L. Cardash, task force coordinator and author, Gordon N. Lederman, task force coauthor
Center for Strategic & International Studies
May 2001

HSPI Testimony & Presentations

Bioterrorism and Pandemic Influenza: Are We Prepared?
Statement of Frank J. Cilluffo
Before the Homeland Security Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Appropriations
May 23, 2006

The Threat of Bioterrorism and the Spread of Infectious Diseases
Testimony of Frank J. Cilluffo
Before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
September 5, 2001

HSPI Events

Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Policy: Combating H1N1
Policy & Research Forum
May 13, 2009

Canadian Ambassador Michael Wilson and Dr. James Young
HSPI Ambassadors Roundtable Series
November 1, 2007

New Zealand Ambassador Roy Ferguson
HSPI Ambassadors Roundtable Series
June 5, 2007

Experts Analyze Proposed Bioterrorism Legislation
HSPI Policy & Research Forum
October 13, 2005

HSPI In the News

Janet Napolitano's Tough Job at Homeland Security
Daniel J. Kaniewski
U.S. News and World Report
July 24, 2009

Homeland Security Expert Discusses Pandemic Preparedness
Daniel J. Kaniewski
FireChief.com
May 2009

Homeland Security Implications for Pandemic Influenza
Daniel J. Kaniewski
Fox 5 News
April 30, 2009

First Person: Compare 1918 Flu Outbreak to Today
Dr. Amir A. Afkhami
Associated Press video
April 29, 2009

HSPI Experts

Frank J. Cilluffo, Director, Homeland Security Policy Institute

Frank has served as Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute since joining The George Washington University in April 2003. He also serves as the University’s Associate Vice President for Homeland Security, where he leads GW’s homeland security efforts on policy, research, education, and training. The Institute’s recent policy and research agenda has spanned terrorism and radicalization, disaster management and emergency preparedness, pandemic influenza planning and bio-defense, intelligence and information sharing, and a host of other national and homeland security matters. Prior to joining HSPI, Frank served as Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security at the White House. Shortly following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, he was appointed by the President to the newly created Office of Homeland Security, and served as a principal advisor to Governor Ridge. Prior to his White House appointment, Cilluffo spent eight years in senior positions with the Center for Strategic & International Studies, where he chaired or directed numerous committees and task forces on homeland defense, counterterrorism, transnational crime, and information warfare. More

Daniel J. Kaniewski, Deputy Director, Homeland Security Policy Institute

Daniel J. Kaniewski is Deputy Director of The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute. Kaniewski re-joined HSPI in August 2008 after spending three years on the White House staff, most recently as Special Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Senior Director for Response Policy. Soon after joining the White House staff in July 2005, he witnessed first hand the failed response to Hurricane Katrina. He then served as a co-author and editor of the White House report The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned. Following the publication of this report, he worked to improve the nation's response capabilities and advised the President and White House senior staff during domestic incidents (including both man-made and natural disasters). He chaired the Domestic Readiness Group at the White House; managed the Presidential Disaster Declaration process; oversaw the development and approval of the National Response Framework and National Incident Management System; and traveled with the President aboard Air Force One to disaster sites around the country. More

Rebecca Katz, PhD, MPH, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Health Policy, The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services

Rebecca Katz is an Assistant Research Professor at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in the Department of Health Policy. Her research is focused on public health preparedness, biological warfare, and the intersection of infectious diseases and national security. Current research projects are focused on evaluating bioterrorism training for clinicians and the implementation of the International Health Regulations. More

Her previous publications on health and security issues include:

Katz, Rebecca. "Suspected BW Agent Use: Yellow Rain. In Terrorism, War or Disease? Unraveling the Use of Biological Weapons." Eds. Clunan AL, Lavoy PR, Martin SB. Stanford University Press, 2008
Katz, Rebecca; Goldstein, Melissa; Hayashi, A Seiji. "Ensuring the Use of Federal Assets in Public Health Emergencies; The Role of the Federal Tort Claims Act in Enabling the Responsiveness of Federally Funded Community Health Centers." Public Health Reports. January/February 2008, 123:89-92
Katz, Rebecca and Singer, Burton. "Can an attribution assessment be made for Yellow Rain? Systematic reanalysis in a chemical and biological weapons use investigation." Politics and the Life Sciences. 24 August 2007, 26(1): 24-42
Katz, Rebecca and Daniel Singer. "Health and Security in Foreign Policy" Bulletin of the World Health Organization, March 2007: 85(3)
Katz, Rebecca. "Public Health Preparedness: The Best Defense Against Biological Weapons." The Washington Quarterly. Summer 2002

Amir A. Afkhami, MD, PhD, MA, MPhil, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences; Assistant Professor of of Global Health, The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services

Dr. Amir Afkhami is an international expert on the 1918 Influenza pandemic, having written a seminal paper on the synergism of the 1918 virus and malaria in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine. His work on the topic has won both the Pfizer Prize and the Pressman-Burroughs Wellcome Award. He has been cited and interviewed in a number of papers on pandemic influenza, most recently in "The Monster at our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu." He was also recently interviewed by AP, where he discussed the current flu pandemic in comparison wirth the 1918 outbreak. In addition, he spoke on National Public Radio about managing anxiety during the swine flu outbreak and offered some comments in this article for the Washington Examiner. More