Disbrow named BARDA Director

Gary Disbrow has been named the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Disbrow has served as the Acting BARDA Director and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response since April 2020. He joined BARDA in January 2007. Before becoming the Acting BARDA Director, Disbrow was both the director and acting director of the BARDA Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Division. He has also served in various positions that strengthened health security, including programs to fight smallpox, Zika, and Ebola.

During his tenure, BARDA has earned 56 regulatory approvals, licensures, or clearances through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and established a portfolio of more than 70 medical countermeasure projects in the fight against COVID-19. This includes seven potential vaccine candidates, 37 diagnostics, and 11 therapeutics.

“BARDA is an integral part of the all-of-America response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we have Dr. Disbrow and the BARDA staff to thank for so much of the progress to date in developing diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines to combat this virus,” Robert Kadlec, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said.

BARDA, a component of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It 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 21st-century health security threats.