A Rapid Response Discussion on the Coronavirus and Global Health Emergencies

On December 31, 2019, China alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) of multiple flu-like cases in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. Shortly after, the seafood market in Wuhan was identified as the suspected hub of the outbreak and a week later the virus was identified as a Coronavirus. The virus started to spread and on January 31, 2020, a month after the first reported case, the WHO declared a global health emergency. Since the outbreak, the death toll has mounted as the virus spreads. To try to slow the outbreak, governments around the world have issued travel bans and enforced quarantines. Businesses everywhere are feeling the economic impact and misinformation is spreading. Is the global community responding effectively – and are we prepared? Join the World Affairs Council and the Washington State China Relations Council on February 13 for a rapid response panel discussion on the local, national, and global responses to epidemics like coronavirus. Panelists are Gabrielle Fitzgerald, President and CEO, Panorama Global, Dr. Ann Marie Kimball, Senior Consulting Fellow at the Chatham House Royal Institute of Foreign Affairs and a Strategic Consultant in Global Health at the Rockefeller Foundation, and Dennis Worsham, the Prevention Division Director for Public Health in Seattle & King County. Jeff Hall, Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Policy & Advocacy Division, will serve as the moderator.

About the Speakers
Gabrielle Fitzgerald is the founder and CEO of Panorama, an action tank dedicated to achieving ambitious goals and solving the world’s toughest problems. A global leader who believes innovative approaches and catalytic coalitions can solve the most challenging issues, Gabrielle leads diverse and dynamic teams and collaborates with partners to spark global change.

Prior to founding Panorama, she directed the $100 million Ebola Program at the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, investing in creative approaches to combat the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Gabrielle previously served as the director of Global Program Advocacy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leading the team that advanced policy and advocacy agendas for the organization’s global issues. In 2014, she won the Gold Medallion award from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs for her leadership on malaria.

Her focus has always been on designing and driving strategies that measurably impact people, organizations, and countries. Earlier in her career, Gabrielle led the public affairs strategy for HIV/AIDS at the United States Agency for International Development and served as the communications director for the U.S. Committee for Refugees. She also served as a speechwriter for President Clinton at The White House.

Gabrielle is the chair of the board of the Washington Global Health Alliance and serves on numerous advisory committees and panels. She holds a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts from American University in Washington, DC.

Gabrielle feels fortunate to have traveled to 65 countries, and loves traveling for work and with her family.

Ann Marie Kimball is a physician and epidemiologist. A strategic adviser for Rockefeller Foundation, she served as technical and strategic lead for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation surveillance strategy formation.

She was also senior program officer with the foundation, prior to which she served as professor of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health where she is now emerita.

During her tenure at UW, Dr Kimball founded and directed the APEC Emerging Infections Network, and led research and training programs in Peru and Thailand.

Her research focus on global trade and emerging infections earned her a Fulbright New Century Scholars award and a Guggenheim Scholars award.

She is the author of Risky Trade: Infectious Diseases in an Era of Global Trade and has authored numerous scientific publications and served on several Institute of Medicine panels.

Most recently she led the Rockefeller Foundation evaluation of their global disease surveillance network portfolio.

She is a fellow in the American College of Preventive Medicine and member of the National Biosurveillance Advisory group, Centers for Disease Control.

Dennis Worsham is the Prevention Division Director for Public Health – Seattle & King County. Within the division Dennis works with outstanding leaders who oversee all the infectious disease programs public health laboratory services, vital records, and the medical examiner’s office.

Dennis’s career in public health started in 1993 – he started his services working in HIV/STDs as a Health Educator and Disease Intervention Specialist. Dennis has served as a program manager for HIV/STD and TB. His passion for being a public servant led him to doing more policy and system work as a Regional Health Officer within public health – here he focused on working with strategic partners and engaging the community to improve health outcomes. Dennis has a deep commitment to leading with equity and social justice – and believes that health and well-being must be available to all people – and applied in an equitable way. Dennis’s first big public health policy was done in partnership with New York City. Dennis’s policy work also includes state legislation that defines foundational public health services, the elimination of trans-fat in all food establishments, and legislation that modernizes laws and services in HIV/AIDS and Vital Records for the state of Washington. Most importantly – Dennis was engaged in process that implemented a law in King County – requiring that county government lead with equity and social justice in all aspects of government services.

Dennis went on to serve as the Chief of Staff for Public Health – Seattle and King County for 3 years – and then was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of Health for the State of Washington. In his State Department of Health role, Dennis led all the divisions within department of health and was the lead for Health Equity and Inclusion. Dennis has been involved with several boards and commissions that work to improve the health of those living within the state of Washington.

About the Moderator
Jeff Hall is a Deputy Director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversees the Strategy, Planning, and Management for multiple teams within the Global Policy & Advocacy division. In this role, he leads cross-functional teams in supporting the development and execution of policy, advocacy and communications strategies, including operational guidance, internal programmatic and financial alignment, and external investment support for issues related to global health and development. Most recently, he transitioned to support the foundation's work across a breadth of programs in China, including coordination of a foundation-wide response to the recent Coronavirus epidemic.

Raised outside of Washington DC, Jeff received his BA in Economics from the University of Virginia, and spent nearly 15 years working in public and private sector consulting around the US and across the globe, including the Middle East and South America. His desire to pursue more mission-driven work led him to the Pacific NW, where he now lives in Seattle, WA, prior to completing a move to Beijing in mid-2020.

In Partnership with the Washington State China Relations Council

The Boeing Company is an underwriting sponsor of all World Affairs Council Community Programs