Professional Profile
Dr. Pannu is a Fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Her primary research interests include global health security and biosecurity, pandemic prevention and preparedness, and emerging infectious diseases. At the Center, she works on US government-oriented projects, including drafting recommendations regarding dual-use and enhanced potential pandemic pathogen research regulation.
Dr. Pannu is an internal medicine resident physician at Stanford University, where she also completed her medical degree. She also is licensed in Uganda, where she has worked at Kirrudu Referral Hospital in Kampala treating patients with HIV and other infectious diseases. Dr. Pannu has participated in the design, management, and publication of results for clinical trials of therapeutics and medical devices.
As a fellow with the Council on Strategic Risks, Dr. Pannu interfaces with security and intelligence experts on biosecurity issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as a consultant to the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, helping to draft The Apollo Program for Biodefense, a roadmap for investing in US capabilities to prevent and respond to future biological threats. While working for Google AI/Google Health on remote diagnostics prior to the pandemic, Dr. Pannu helped launch Mobile Vitals on all Pixel phones.
Dr. Pannu’s publications have been featured in the journals The Lancet Global Health, Health Security, Global Policy, Current Opinion in Infectious Disease, and Nature Protocols, among others. She earned a BSc with first class honors in biology from McGill University.
Recent Publications
Threat Net: A Metagenomic Surveillance Network for Biothreat Detection and Early Warning
Protocols and risks: when less is more
