J. Stephen Morrison

Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center
J. Stephen Morrison

J. Stephen Morrison is a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and directs its Global Health Policy Center. Through several high-level commissions, he has shaped decisions in Congress and the administration on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and gender equality, and health security, including pandemic preparedness. Since 2018, the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security has addressed the evolving challenges of Covid-19 and the tests of U.S. leadership, at home and abroad. Morrison has led global health security fora at the annual Munich Security Conference. He directed The New Barbarianism, an award-winning documentary on violence against the health sector. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he has directed six episodes of the CSIS video series Ukraine: The Human Price of War. His podcast series, Coronavirus Crisis Update, has issued over 150 episodes. Since 2021, he has been the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. He is a trustee of the China Medical Board and a member of advisory boards to the International Division at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Humanitarian Health. He served in the Clinton administration on the secretary of state’s Policy Planning Staff and on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa. He taught for 12 years at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, holds a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale College.

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The CommonHealth

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, NYT: “Our attention has turned.”

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, NYT national correspondent on health and politics, unpacks the post-Dobbs era: does it imperil or boost the right to contraception? Or both? Does it put the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) under new scrutiny?

Podcast Episode by J. Stephen Morrison — July 13, 2023

Photo: iLab/CSIS
The CommonHealth

Dr. Mitch Wolfe: CDC regional offices are inextricably linked to security.

Dr. Mitch Wolfe, former CDC Chief Medical Officer, explains the genesis of CDC’s vision for six regional offices as a “long-term permanent overseas presence” that would expand coverage, deploy senior staff to develop regional strategies, and provide specialized technical expertise.

Podcast Episode by J. Stephen Morrison — July 6, 2023

Photo: iLab/CSIS
The CommonHealth

Helen Branswell, STAT: “In the spring of 2022, I thought my head would explode.”

Helen Branswell, STAT, unpacks for us important complicated topics that can, frankly, be confusing. She explains why this is a big moment for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). She illuminates why GAVI is moving ahead with a hexavalent (6-in-1) vaccine that incorporates polio vaccines, and what that signals for the future of global polio control. In her recent profile of Mandy Cohen, the incoming CDC Director, Helen reflects on the changed understanding of what is required to lead CDC effectively. In the post-Covid period, how has health reporting changed?

Podcast Episode by J. Stephen Morrison — June 30, 2023

Photo: iLab/CSIS
The CommonHealth

Dan Diamond, Washington Post: “Easier to play offense than defense”

Dan Diamond, Washington Post, reflects on big emerging themes. The administration’s scientific, biomedical, and public health leadership has emptied. What should we make of Mandy Cohen’s appointment to be the next Director of CDC? With the turnover, who will be the “quarterback” of government during the next crisis? 

Podcast Episode by J. Stephen Morrison and H. Andrew Schwartz — June 22, 2023

Photo: iLab/CSIS

Accelerating Innovation on Antimicrobial Resistance

The CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security will host a public broadcast conversation on Wednesday, June 21 from 10:00am to 12:00pm ET aimed at identifying specific opportunities to advance transatlantic cooperation on mitigating the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Event by J. Stephen Morrison , Ingrid Keller , Colin McIff , Linda Ristani , Julie Gerberding , Malin Grape , Christopher Houchens , Wolfgang Philipp , and Krishna Udayakumar — June 21, 2023

The CommonHealth

Adam Havey, Emergent BioSolutions: “Lead with the facts.”

Adam Havey speaks to the “great unwinding” with the end of the Public Health Emergency, including the outstanding work to bring about adequate sustained funding for preparedness capabilities.

Podcast Episode by J. Stephen Morrison — May 26, 2023

Photo: iLab/CSIS