Infectious diseases expert Dr.Nahid Bhadelia joins WH Covid-19 response team

Nahid Bhadelia, an Indian American infectious diseases physician has joined the White House Covid-19 response team as a senior policy advisor for global Covid response. 

Established by President Joe Biden to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, the response team is currently led by White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha. 

A Boston University School of Medicine associate professor of infectious diseases, Bhadelia is the founder of BU’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research (CEID). 

“Some big personal news,” Bhadelia tweeted. “I am honored to join @WHCovidResponse as the Senior Policy Advisor for Global Covid-19 Response. I am humbled to have the opportunity to serve my country & to continue working with our global partners.” 

“Dr. Bhadelia is widely known as an international expert and leader in highly communicable and emerging infectious diseases,” says Gloria Waters, BU vice president and associate provost for research. 

Bhadelia is also an associate director of BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) and helped launch and develop the Special Pathogens Unit at Boston Medical Center, BU’s primary teaching hospital. 

“She has extensive clinical, field, academic, and policy experience in pandemic preparedness,” says Waters. “Her background in health and human security, international affairs, and her training in infectious disease, coupled with her extensive experience in health system response to emerging infectious diseases—such as Ebola, Zika, and more recently, Covid-19—have provided her with invaluable insights into the underlying challenges to pandemic preparedness.” 

Born in India, Bhadelia grew up in Sweden and Saudi Arabia. She came to the US as a young teenager. 

She’s also a member of the World Health Organization’s Technical Advisory Group for Universal Health and Preparedness Review, which is working to improve the metrics used to measure pandemic preparedness. 

Image courtesy of (Image courtesy: fortune.com)

Share this post