Nuclear Threat Initiative launches new advisory group

The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) launched an advisory group for its recently expanded Global Biological Policy and Programs.

The advisory group provides strategic guidance on the program’s effort to reduce global biological risks. It will be chaired by former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Margaret Hamburg. Hamburg is an NTI board member who now serves as foreign secretary of the National Academy of Medicine.

Other advisory group members include John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital; Gerald Fink, member of the Whitehead Institute and professor of genetics at MIT; Tore Godal, special advisor on global health, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway; John-Erik Stig Hansen, director of the Centre for Biosecurity and Biopreparedness, Denmark; and Renee Wegrzyn, program manager, Biological Technologies Office (BTO), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

“We deeply appreciate the time, expertise, and confidence that this esteemed group is giving us, as NTI expands our biosecurity initiative,” NTI co-chair and CEO Ernest Moniz said. “We look forward to working together on the steps required to reduce biological risks and improve global health security.”

NTI works to prevent catastrophic attacks with weapons of mass destruction and disruption (WMDD), including nuclear, biological, radiological, chemical, and cyber. NTI was founded in 2001 by former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn and philanthropist Ted Turner who continue to serve as co-chairs.