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Tom Inglesby, MD

Director

Professional Profile

Dr. Inglesby is the Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. The Center is dedicated to protecting people’s health from the consequences of epidemics and disasters. Dr. Inglesby is also a Professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, with a Joint Appointment in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Dr. Inglesby's work is internationally recognized in the fields of public health preparedness, pandemic and emerging infectious disease, and prevention of and response to biological threats. He was Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the Center for Preparedness and Response at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from 2010 to 2019. He also served as a member of the CDC Director’s External Laboratory Safety Workgroup, which examined biosafety practices of the CDC, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after high-profile laboratory incidents in federal agencies. He currently serves as Chair of the Health-Security Interface Technical Advisory Group (HSI-TAG) that provides independent advice to the World Health Organization on related topics.

Dr. Inglesby has served as an advisor to the US Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense, and Homeland Security, and he has testified before Congress on many occasions. In 2023, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Inglesby was recognized as one of the 50 most influential clinical executives by Modern Healthcare. He gave analysis and expert testimony to policymakers, business leaders, and health organizations on public health interventions needed to control the pandemic. He served as an advisor to then-Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan and on the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice.

In 2020, he served on the Biden-Harris transition team reviewing and advising on HHS and COVID-19 policies. In 2021, Dr. Inglesby served as Senior Policy Advisor for the COVID-19 response in the Office of the HHS Secretary. In 2021–2022, he then served as Senior Advisor on the White House COVID-19 Response Team and was the White House National Coordinator for Testing in that role. 

Dr. Inglesby is often published and interviewed by the media. His interviews include 60 Minutes, Fox News Sunday, Meet the Press, CBS Evening News, and CNN, and his commentary and articles on the pandemic have appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, The Washington Post, JAMA, and other outlets.

Dr. Inglesby has authored or coauthored more than 170 publications, including peer-reviewed research, reports, and commentaries on issues related to health security, preparedness for epidemics, biological threats, and COVID-19. He is Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Health Security, which he helped establish in 2003.

Dr. Inglesby completed his internal medicine and infectious diseases training at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also served as Assistant Chief of Service in 1996–1997. He received his MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his BA from Georgetown University.