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
Priya Basu, the Pandemic Fund: "Countries are n...
Priya Basu, head of the Pandemic Fund (est. 2022, based at the World Bank) , reflects on the Fund's origin and evolution. "It exists to solve problems no one else was solving."
36 min
2
A Conversation with Dr. Sania Nishtar, CEO of G...
Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar sat down with Katherine E. Bliss, Director and Senior Fellow, Immunizations and Health Systems Resilience, to discuss the Vaccine Alliance’s ambitious plan of work for the next five years.
47 min
3
The Lenacapavir Partnership and the Evolution o...
Listen to this event from the CSIS Futures Summit on the lenacapvir partnership, how this deal fits into a renewed U.S. strategy for foreign assistance, what challenges lie on the horizon as implementation unfolds, and what additional innovations may scale this effort.
72 min
4
Dr. Eli Cahan: “Human beings are wired for stor...
Dr. Eli Cahan explains how he evolved into both a neonatologist and an accomplished, intrepid journalist, inspired by the likes of Atul Gawande and shaped by experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.
40 min
5
Dr. Benjamin Park, CDC: speed is of utmost impo...
Dr. Benjamin Park is Director of the CDC Division of Global Health Protection that protects Americans against dangerous outbreaks by strengthening partner countries’ capabilities to detect and respond.
33 min
6
Expanding Access to Immunizations in the Americ...
In this conversation, learn about immunization programs in the Americas, what works to close gaps and expand access to new vaccines, and the important roles schools, civil society organizations, and community groups play in sustaining momentum for immunization programs.
53 min
7
Dan Diamond, Washington Post: “A big hole that ...
Dan Diamond, Washington Post reporter on the White House and health care, shares his reflections on President Trump’s swirling passions to reshape Washington’s built environment, with intense controversy surrounding the ballroom.
35 min
8
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times: Reflection...
Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, offers her reflections on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s tenure over the past fifteen months.
38 min
9
The Resurgence of Measles in the United States ...
Listen to the recent CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security broadcast conversation with Katherine E. Bliss and J. Stephen Morrison, regarding the current measles outbreaks, the threats posed by sustained disease transmission, and opportunities for regional and international collaboration to prevent and respond to health security challenges.
52 min
10
Emily Gibbons, Gilead Sciences: the lenacapavir...
Emily Gibbons, Gilead Sciences, explains the partnership between Gilead Sciences, the Trump administration, and the Global Fund to bring lenacapavir, the twice-yearly injectable HIV/AIDS prevention tool, to two million persons at-risk in ten African countries in three years.
28 min
11
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
12
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
13
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
14
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
15
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
16
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
17
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
18
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
19
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
20
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
21
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
22
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
23
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
24
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
25
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