Dr. Gary Disbrow is the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. BARDA invests in the innovation, advanced research and development, acquisition, and manufacturing of medical countermeasures – vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, diagnostic tools, and non-pharmaceutical products needed to combat health security threats.

Dr. Disbrow joined BARDA in January of 2007 and has held a variety of positions related to the advanced development and procurement of medical countermeasures against an array of threats to national security and public health.

Prior to becoming the Acting BARDA Director, Dr. Disbrow served as Deputy Assistant Secretary (ASPR) and the Medical Countermeasures Program Director. BARDA’s medical countermeasures portfolio includes 54 products that have achieved regulatory approval, licensure or clearance.

In October 2013, Dr. Disbrow was named Acting Director of the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Division and was subsequently named the Director of the Division in December of 2014. During that time, the CBRN Division built a robust pipeline of candidate products under advanced research and development. In 2014 and 2015, Dr. Disbrow was identified as the Ebola Incident Coordinator for BARDA and worked closely with the BARDA Director on funding needs, development of candidate products, and was the primary liaison for BARDA across the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE).  These efforts led to the first licensed Ebola vaccine, ERBEVO licensed in December 2019.

October 2008, Dr. Disbrow began serving as the Deputy Director CBRN Division of Countermeasures in and oversaw the budget and programs for both advanced research and development and Project BioShield efforts. BARDA’s these programs have grown significantly since 2007.

Dr. Disbrow joined BARDA in January 2007 and began working on the smallpox vaccine program. Dr. Disbrow played a key role in awarding the first contract under Project BioShield using the authorities for advanced payment and milestone payments provided under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (2006).  JYNNEOS was licensed in September 2019.  

Prior to joining BARDA, Dr. Disbrow was an Assistant Professor of Oncology and Pathology at Georgetown Medical Center where he worked on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines and therapeutics. Dr. Disbrow has previously worked at W.R. Grace, Kodak, and Genecor.

Dr. Disbrow attended the University of Rochester and Georgetown University for his undergraduate and Ph.D. respectively.

Labeeb Abboud has served in various leadership roles in global health product development and innovative financing, including the establishment of the Global Health Investment Corporation, where he has served as Chairman since 2014. In 2021, Labeeb joined GHIC as CEO to launch its global health security partnership with BARDA and advance the organization's mission through its investment activities and public-private partnerships.

Previously, he spent 17 years in senior leadership roles at IAVI, structuring vaccine and antibody research, development and commercialization agreements with a wide range of industry, academic and public sector partners in HIV and other infectious and emerging disease fields with the goal of ensuring products were accessible and affordable globally. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Dylan George, Ph.D., is the Director of Operations for the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CFA is building world class data and analytics capabilities to guide interventions in public health emergencies and pandemics.

Prior to joining the CDC, Dr. George worked in the private sector at Ginkgo Bioworks and In-Q-Tel (IQT). Dr. George served on the Biden-Harris Transition Team working on National Security policy for the COVID19 response, and on the Agency Review Team for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Over ten years, Dr. George has worked in several positions within the federal government serving at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), in the Department of Health and Human Services within the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, at the Department of Defense, and at the National Science Foundation. Across all these positions, Dr. George advanced data and analytical capabilities to understand, warn, or mitigate infectious disease threats to Americans.

Dr. George received his Ph.D. from Colorado State University and focused on quantitative analytical approaches for considering how clinically severe pathogens (e.g., Yersinia pestis, rabies) persist within wildlife populations.

Mr Wolfgang Philipp is Deputy Head of the new Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) in the European Commission. HERA’s mission is to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to health emergencies. HERA works to ensure the development, production and distribution of medicines, vaccines, and other critical medical countermeasures in case of health emergencies.

He holds a PhD in microbiology of the University of Paris, France, and has been working in tuberculosis research at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, at the Universities of Bern and Basel and was a Member of the Basel Institute of Immunology, Switzerland, before joining the European Commission in 2001.

Ms. Dawn O’Connell serves as the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She leads the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and serves as the Secretary’s principal advisor on public health emergencies. Her organization leads the nation in preventing, responding to, and recovering from the adverse health effects of man-made and naturally occurring disasters.

The organization coordinates interagency activities between HHS, other federal agencies, and state and local officials responsible for emergency preparedness and the protection of the civilian population from public health emergencies.

Prior to this role, Ms. O’Connell served as the Senior Counselor to Secretary Becerra for COVID-19. She was also the Director of the US Office for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation (CEPI), a global partnership to develop vaccines to stop future epidemics. As director, she was responsible for managing the broad spectrum of CEPI’s US and North American interests including its relationships with US and North American-based stakeholders, government entities, and industry partners.

O’Connell served as a Senior Counselor to Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Sebelius at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) during the Obama-Biden Administration. In these roles, O’Connell advised the Secretaries on high-priority domestic policy, global health and humanitarian issues, including infectious diseases, public health emergencies, and refugees. She worked with HHS leaders, the White House, and other federal and international partners, to resolve key policy challenges, lead implementation, and drive progress toward Administration goals. O’Connell received a Bachelor of Arts in literature from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctor from Tulane University School of Law. She is an avid runner, and lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband Ben and two daughters, Frannie and Maddie.