Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo is a preeminent epidemiologist whose expertise in global health security has shaped pandemic preparedness efforts worldwide. She currently serves as Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown University School of Public Health, bringing substantial leadership experience from her previous position as Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Dr. Nuzzo earned her Doctor of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in 2014, following a Master of Science from Harvard University and Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University. Her career trajectory transformed after working in a virology laboratory and experiencing the September 11 attacks, which redirected her environmental science background toward pandemic preparedness and outbreak response.
Dr. Nuzzo has pioneered critical frameworks that have reshaped global health infrastructure, most notably as co-leader in developing the first-ever Global Health Security Index, which comprehensively benchmarks 195 countries' public health capacities, healthcare capabilities, and commitment to international norms. Her founding of the Outbreak Observatory created an innovative partnership model with frontline public health practitioners to conduct operational research that directly improves outbreak preparedness and response systems. Her expertise in biosurveillance and infectious disease diagnostics has informed national policies and international standards, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when she emerged as a trusted voice for evidence-based public health guidance. Dr. Nuzzo's research spans tuberculosis control, water security, and pandemic planning, providing foundational insights for strengthening health systems resilience against emerging biological threats.
As an elected member of both the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Nuzzo has significantly influenced global health security policy through her advisory roles with national governments and international organizations including the Nuclear Threat Initiative and the Economist Intelligence Unit. She has served on influential committees including the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Drinking Water Advisory Council and its Water Security Working Group and was appointed in July 2025 to serve on the Advisory Committee to the Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Currently leading the Pandemic Center at Brown University, Dr. Nuzzo is advancing her vision that pandemic threats, while increasingly frequent, can be managed through evidence-based resilience building rather than crisis response. Her ongoing work focuses on developing sustainable systems that reduce societal vulnerability to health emergencies, ensuring that future outbreaks do not disrupt lives as profoundly as the COVID-19 pandemic did.
