The CommonHealth
The CommonHealth is the podcast of the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security. On The CommonHealth, hosts J. Stephen Morrison and Katherine Bliss delve deeply into the puzzle that connects pandemic preparedness and response, HIV/AIDS, routine immunization, and primary care, areas of huge import to human and national security. The CommonHealth replaces under a single podcast the Coronavirus Crisis Update, Pandemic Planet and AIDS Existential Moment.
Produced by Marla Hiller.
1
Book Event: Deployed by Kevin De Cock
This episode of The CommonHealth features a discussion of the recently published book, Deployed: A Physician on the Front Lines of Global Health, by Kevin M. De Cock.
57 min
2
Andi L. Fristedt, Parkinson’s Foundation: “The ...
Andi L. Fristedt, former senior official at CDC, FDA and the Senate HELP Committee, heads up a newly established Washington, D.C. office of the Parkinson’s Foundation.
32 min
3
Keith Poulsen, Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic ...
Keith Poulsen, professor at the University of Wisconsin and director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, provides an update on the status of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1), as pertains to dairy cattle, poultry, wildlife—and humans.
43 min
4
Measles Outbreaks and Elimination in North Amer...
Listen to this broadcast from the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security regarding measles outbreaks and elimination in the North American context and the implications of sustained measles transmission for regional and global health security.
54 min
5
Jane Halton: the launch of CEPI 3.0
Jane Halton, chair of CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, walks us through CEPI's evolution since its founding in early 2017, and the launch on February 14, at the Munich Security Conference, of CEPI 3.0.
24 min
6
John-Arne Røttingen, CEO, Wellcome Trust: “The ...
John-Arne Røttingen, CEO of Wellcome Trust, is a Norwegian leader whose expertise spans, encompassing medicine, science, research, clinical trials, negotiations, diplomacy, philanthropy, financing of global health, and governance of international institutions.
34 min
7
Keith Humphreys, Stanford University: China’s s...
Keith Humphreys, a leading expert on addiction psychiatry, based at Stanford University, unpacks his January article in Science examining the steep reduction in overdoses deaths—between May 2023 and the end of 2024—in the United States and Canada.
34 min
8
Amb. (ret) Karl Hofmann, Health X Partners: “No...
Amb. (ret) Karl Hofmann, CEO of the recently launched Health X Partners (HXP), a parent company under which Population Services International (PSI) and the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AID Foundation (EGPAF) now operate, explains his personal story.
51 min
9
Dr. Chris Murray, IHME: The “Commission of Comm...
Dr. Chris Murray, IHME, co-chairs the Lancet Commission on 21st Century Global Threats to Health, which will launch its report in February at the Munich Security Conference.
33 min
10
Prevention Intention: Wafaa El-Sadr on People a...
In the second episode of the Prevention Intention mini-series, Katherine speaks with Wafaa El-Sadr, University Professor in Epidemiology at Columbia University and the director of ICAP.
37 min
11
Prevention Intention: Linda-Gail Bekker on HIV ...
In the first episode of the Prevention Intention mini-series, a series featuring conversations with leading female HIV clinical researchers, Katherine speaks with Linda-Gail Bekker, a medical doctor and director of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town.
39 min
12
Erika Elvander, former U.S. Health Attache in B...
Erika Elvander served her country as a federal career health diplomat for 27 years, including as the U.S. Health Attache in Beijing from the spring 2021 until the end of 2024.
39 min
13
Marian Wentworth, MSH: "I have been working sin...
Marian Wentworth, President & CEO, Management Sciences for Health (MSH), reflects on the stunning year of 2025, a series of radical pivots for MSH.
38 min
14
Rep. Adam Smith on Engaging China
Listen to the recent CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Health Security discussion with Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, on his experience leading a Congressional delegation to China in late September 2025.
41 min
15
Dr. Rick Brennan: “This is not good for the Ame...
Dr. Rick Brennan, an acclaimed Australian humanitarian leader who led WHO and NGO crisis response in multiple conflicts over several decades, walks us through his personal story
35 min
16
Fair Doses: An Insider's Story of the Pandemic ...
Listen to the recent CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security book launch of Fair Doses: An Insider’s Story of the Pandemic and the Global Fight for Vaccine Equity by Seth Berkley.
42 min
17
Keizo Takemi, recent Japan Minister of Health, ...
Keizo Takemi, recent Japan Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (September 2023-October 2024), shares his personal story that took him to Taiwan, CNN/Japan, the Diet, Harvard, back to the Diet, and recently into the cabinet of then Prime Minister Kishida.
40 min
18
Dr. Debra Houry, former Chief Medical Officer a...
Dr. Debra Houry joined the podcast, following her resignation from CDC on August 25, upon the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez, and shortly after her September 17 testimony before the Senate HELP Committee.
39 min
19
Peter Piot, LSHTM: “A brilliant coalition” esse...
The renowned global health leader, Peter Piot, LSHTM, opens this conversation with reflections on what drove the historic global health successes, including “a brilliant coalition” and U.S. bipartisan leadership grounded in statecraft and strategic thinking.
50 min
20
The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Dea...
Listen to the recent CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Health Security book launch of The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics.
58 min
21
Dr. Celine Gounder, KFF Health News: "Silence w...
Dr. Celine Gounder, Editor-at-Large, KFF Health News, explains how the U.S. vaccine enterprise could be damaged so swiftly by the Trump administration, with so little apparent resistance.
32 min
22
CommonHealth Live! with PAHO’s Dr. Jarbas Barbosa
In the fifteenth episode of the Common Health Live!, Katherine E. Bliss talks with Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
45 min
23
Dr. Andriy Klepikov, Alliance for Public Health...
Dr. Andriy Klepikov, the founder and executive director of the Alliance for Public Health (Ukraine), reflects on the Alliance's remarkable evolution over the past 25 years into a major Ukrainian—and regional—non-governmental force in HIV, TB, and harm reduction programs.
40 min
24
Dr. Heidi Larson, LSHTM: “People are struggling...
Dr. Heidi Larson, expert on vaccine confidence at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and CSIS Senior Associate, speaks on the external world’s reaction to the changes in the U.S. in vaccine policy, the scientific R&D biomedical enterprise, and public health.
20 min
25
The CommonHealth Live! on Financing Global Heal...
In this episode of The CommonHealth Live!, Dr. Christopher J.L. Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and Stephanie Psaki, CSIS Global Health Policy Center Senior Adviser, will discuss IHME’s new report on Financing Global Health.
51 min