| Panelists |
Area of Research | |
| Jonathan
E. Fielding, M.D., M.P.H. Director of Public Health and Health Officer Los Angeles County Professor of Health Services and Pediatrics University of California Los Angeles |
As director of public health and health officer, Dr. Fielding is responsible for the full range of public health activities for 10 million Los Angeles County residents. He is the former commissioner of public health for Massachusetts, a member of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine, and the editor of the Annual Review of Public Health. Dr. Fielding formerly served as the founding board member and chairman of the board for the California Wellness Foundation, the largest U.S. foundation devoted to disease prevention and health promotion. | |
| Steven
E. Koonin, Ph.D. Provost and Professor of Theoretical Physics California Institute of Technology |
Beyond his scientific work in nuclear physics and climate observations, Dr. Koonin has advised the government for some time on the technical aspects of national security. Several years ago he led a large study on civilian biodefense chartered by the Department of Defense, which examined aspects of the detection of biological weapons and their use, as well as pre- and post-release public health measures. | |
| Alan
P. Zelicoff, M.D. Chief Scientist National Security and Policy Planning Division Sandia National Laboratories |
A physician and physicist, Dr. Zelicoff developed the Rapid Syndromic Validation Project (RSVP), a medical database designed to report and contain outbreaks of disease. RSVP helps physicians, hospitals, state health departments, and epidemiologists to distinguish between benign sicknesses and deadly diseases faster than previously possible. Real-time reporting of illnesses helps determine whether a novel disease was introduced naturally or intentionally, where it first appeared, how it spread, and where it originated. Such information improves the ability of the public health community to contain an epidemic, and also provides a significant deterrent to those considering acts of bioterrorism. | |
