Dr. Lisa M. Koonin currently serves as the Senior Advisor for the Influenza Coordination Unit at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Lead for Pandemic Influenza Medical Care and Countermeasures Task Force. Dr. Koonin is currently providing leadership and coordination for the planning and utilization of key medical countermeasures during CDC’s current H7N9 response. She also provides direction for innovative initiatives linking public health agencies and the private sector for improving community-level emergency preparedness. Dr. Koonin has been a leader in the US Government’s efforts to include private sector businesses in pandemic planning and response.
Dr. Koonin contributed to the development of the U.S. National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan, and actively serves on the White House National Security Staff’s Pandemic Sub-Interagency Policy Council. She also serves on the Department of Health and Human Services/ASPR Antiviral Planning Work Group and on the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Medical and Public Health Preparedness for Catastrophic Events. She has co-authored several US Government pandemic planning and H1N1 pandemic response guidance documents and served in a leadership role as part of CDC’s 2009 H1N1 Flu Response. Dr. Koonin is a frequent lecturer at national and international meetings on pandemic preparedness. She has published more than 50 peer reviewed publications on an array of public health topics.
Dr. Koonin has been with CDC since 1987. Prior to her current position she served as Chief of Reproductive Health Surveillance, Director of the Office of Healthcare Partnerships, and Branch Chief for Public and Private Partnerships. Prior to her employment with CDC, Dr. Koonin spent 10 years in a variety of nurse practitioner, clinical, and faculty nursing leadership positions. Dr. Koonin is a Family Nurse Practitioner and Epidemiologist and earned Master of Nursing and Master of Public Health degrees from Emory University and a Doctor of Public Health degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.