Healthcare

An interview with Ryan Morhard: On biosecurity and pandemic preparedness

Meryem Malik, M.D.3 Pamela Pan , and Bianca A. Lepe

Meryem Malik, M.D.*, Pamela Pan*, and Bianca Lepe*

Edited by Soumya Kannan

Interview | Aug. 29 2022

DOI: 10.38105/spr.1wwaawcidb

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Introduction

MIT Science Policy Review spoke with Mr. Ryan Morhard about the ties between bioeconomy development and pandemic preparedness. Mr. Morhard is the Director of Policy and Partnerships at Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based synthetic biology company. He obtained a J.D. at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. Formerly, Mr. Morhard has served as the Head of COVID Action Platform and Lead of Global Health Security at the World Economic Forum. From 2014 to 2016, he was the Branch Chief of International Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he engaged with international partners to improve collective capacities and handle public health emergencies. We spoke with Mr. Morhard’s about his professional experience in biosecurity, insights in capacity building, and outlooks about leveraging advancements in biotechnology and the growing bioeconomy to address future pandemics and other significant societal and environmental challenges.

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Meryem Malik, M.D.

ALM Biotechnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Pamela Pan

Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, Cornell Tech, New York, NY

Bianca A. Lepe

Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA