Dr. Michael Osterholm, one of the nation’s most recognized infection control experts and an ex-officio member of the Eagles, has been appointed to President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Task Force.
Osterholm is an epidemiologist, regents professor and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Osterholm will be a speaker at EMS Today.
The co-chairs of the task force are former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, former Food Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. David Kessler and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a Yale University professor and researcher.
Rick Bright, a vaccine expert and former head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, was also appointed by Biden. Bright filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was reassigned to a lesser job because he resisted pressure to allow use of hydroxychloroquine.
Other members include Luciana Borio, a biodefense specialist; Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and bioethics chair at the National Institutes of Health; Dr. Atul Gawande, a Clinton administration health advisor and surgery expert; Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease expert who has studied HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis; Dr. Julie Morita, a pediatric and immunization specialist; Loyce Pace, a global health specialist; Dr. Robert Rodriguez, an emergency medicine expert who has researched mental health of COVID-19 responders; and Dr. Eric Goosby, an infectious disease expert who has worked in AIDS/HIV.