Global Health Institute

On March 9, 2021, the Conversations in Global Health lecture series welcomed Dr. Margaret Hamburg, foreign secretary of the National Academy of Medicine. Prior to her current position, Dr. Hamburg served as the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, vice president and senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and New York City health commissioner. With an extensive background both in medical research and health policy, Dr. Hamburg reflected on her professional career and provided a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary perspective on health in the context of global diplomacy and social justice, offering illuminating feedback on the COVID-19 global response.

On February 23, Georgetown University’s Conversations in Global Health class met with Dr. Eric Goosby over Zoom. Dr. Goosby is a public health official and academic with over 35 years of experience in the field of HIV/AIDS, paired with recent experience managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout his talk, he highlighted the social justice foundations of the global health sector and how his politically-active family led him to serve in this area. His experience during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States contrasts with the current pandemic in terms of timeline but offers crucial insight. What happened over at least a decade in the study of HIV’s pathophysiology and history occurred in months with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.