Beth Cameron

Global team builder & biologist working to make the world a better place. Professor of the Practice at @Brown_SPH. My own views.

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

Today, the High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) is releasing a new, bold & practical roadmap for pandemic security. I am honored to serve as Special Advisor to the panel. Read the recommendations here https://t.co/YliktqL463 and here https://t.co/7Q0xgaMqSt ⬇️🧵

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

No matter how you slice it, the offices left for this administration and the congressionally mandated people to oversee crises like this one are no longer in place. US response was a well oiled machine. Now it’s not. The cost? Fast action, saving lives, protecting Americans.

[The Washington Post @washingtonpost]

Experts said the Ebola crisis is becoming a test. Can the U.S. — which has withdrawn from the World Health Organization and is also grappling with a hantavirus outbreak — still pull together a fast, coordinated response before the next virus emerges? https://t.co/IwG9Nrx1ym

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

Please join us ⬇️ I am delighted to be a part of this amazing group: 🎤 Zibusiso Masuku of @AfricaCDC, Sandra Matinyi, Thokozani Nyasulu Liwewe, and
Wilmot James -- speaking about a deep passion of ours
@pandemiccenter : Building the next generation of biosecurity leadership ⚡

[Pandemic Center at Brown School of Public Health @pandemiccenter]

Next-gen leadership is the future of biosecurity!

Join us April 10 for a talk on global threat reduction & lessons from the Biosecurity Game Changers.

🗣️: Thokozani Liwewe, Zibusiso Masuku, @SandraMatinyi, @BethCameron_DC, Wilmot James

https://t.co/JwQDYZsJlD

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

👏 Please share widely: Calling for applications in Africa for our new bio threat reduction course and fellowship!

[Pandemic Center at Brown School of Public Health @pandemiccenter]

Calling for applicants in Africa who want to make an impact on the future of biosecurity!

The @pandemiccenter, supported by the @CarnegieCorp is launching a Biological Threat Reduction Training Policy Program and a 12-month Fellowship for rising African biosecurity leaders.

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

(2) 🤝 All of this will be in partnership with our friends and colleagues at @AfricaCDC, @CEPIvaccines, @IBBIS_bio, the BWC ISU, Biosecurity Game Changers past and future and others!

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

I am thrilled and grateful to @CarnegieCorp for this phenomenal opportunity to support rising African biosecurity leaders in making lasting change! ⚡ Watch this space for updates on this initiative and for calls to apply for courses and fellowships ⚡🧵

[Pandemic Center at Brown School of Public Health @pandemiccenter]

We’re excited to share @CarnegieCorp awarded our center a $900K grant for #biosecurity! This supports our initiative to develop a biological threat reduction policy program for rising African decision-makers and a pipeline of experts to lead it.

More ⤵️
https://t.co/J1w1Ews6JL

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

I am thankful for so many teams, friends, students, and colleagues that I have worked with, who co-lead these accomplishments and provide hope every day for a better tomorrow.

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

It’s an honor and a privilege to be included in the 2025 #FuturePerfect25 list, which celebrates the fight for a healthier, fairer future. I’m humbled to be part of this ambitious project from @voxdotcom and in the company of so many changemakers I revere.

[Pandemic Center at Brown School of Public Health @pandemiccenter]

Meet @voxdotcom's 2025 #FuturePerfect25. These changemakers, including our Senior Adviser @BethCameron_DC, are advancing global health and development at a time of unprecedented challenges, proving that meaningful progress is still possible.

More here⤵️
https://t.co/sv5cf598GJ

[Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen]

I thank the High-Level Independent Panel for their ambitious report.

It sets out a bold vision for stronger global health security and reinforces our global commitment.

We would welcome implementation aligned with the G20 Joint Finance & Health Task Force and the Pandemic Agreement.

Together, we can create a safer, healthier world for all citizens.

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

Thank you to the dozens of experts who informed the work, particularly the working group leads @ElizabethRadin; @shanellehall; @RCordiner; @sylimun and secretariat Melissa Laitner, Emily Shambaugh, Carolyn Shore, Sabrina Chwalek, Yuliya Velhan, Gabby Chalker. Onward to execution!

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

Today, the High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) is releasing a new, bold & practical roadmap for pandemic security. I am honored to serve as Special Advisor to the panel. Read the recommendations here https://t.co/YliktqL463 and here https://t.co/7Q0xgaMqSt ⬇️🧵

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

(6) HLIP is co-chaired by Victor Dzau, @jarottingen, @Dr_JeanKaseya, Jane Halton of @CEPIvaccines, Beneadict Oramah @afreximbank; with panelists @NOIweala; @rglenner, @DrSethBerkley, @DMiliband, @kiranshaw; @glassmanamanda; Keizo Takemi; @trishbrussels; @sylimun; @ChrisJElias

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

Looking forward to joining and learning from @syramadad @DeryaTR_ and longtime friend and colleague Ed You - today @BelferCenter - to unpack AI, health security, and biosecurity.

[Dr. Syra Madad @drsyramadad]

Looking forward to joining @DeryaTR_ @BethCameron_DC and Ed You tomorrow at the @Kennedy_School @BelferCenter for a discussion on AI, Health, and the Future of Scientific Cooperation.

https://t.co/wJbUVOn8Kt

[DrDemetre @dr_demetre]

My resignation letter from CDC.

Dear Dr. Houry,

I am writing to formally resign from my position as Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), effective August 28, 2025, close of business.   I am happy to stay on for two weeks to provide transition, if requested.

This decision has not come easily, as I deeply value the work that the CDC does in safeguarding public health and am proud of my contributions to that critical mission. However, after much contemplation and reflection on recent developments and perspectives brought to light by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., I find that the views he and his staff have shared challenge my ability to continue in my current role at the agency and in the service of the health of the American people. Enough is enough.

While I hold immense respect for the institution and my colleagues, I believe that it is imperative to align my professional responsibilities to my system of ethics and my understanding of the science of infectious disease, immunology, and my promise to serve the American people.  This step is necessary to ensure that I can contribute effectively in a capacity that allows me to remain true to my principles.

I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health.  The recent change in the adult and children’s immunization schedule threaten the lives of the youngest Americans and pregnant people.   The data analyses that supported this decision have never been shared with CDC despite my respectful requests to HHS and other leadership.  This lack of meaningful engagement was further compounded by a “frequently asked questions” document written to support the Secretary’s directive that was circulated by HHS without input from CDC subject matter experts and that cited studies that did not support the conclusions that were attributed to these authors.  Having worked in local and national public health for years, I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.

It is untenable to serve in an organization that is not afforded the opportunity to discuss decisions of scientific and public health importance released under the moniker of CDC.  The lack of communication by HHS and other CDC political leadership that culminates in social media posts announcing major policy changes without prior notice demonstrate a disregard of normal communication channels and common sense.  Having to retrofit analyses and policy actions to match inadequately thought-out announcements in poorly scripted videos or page long X posts should not be how organizations responsible for the health of people should function.  Some examples include the announcement of the change in the COVID-19 recommendations for children and pregnant people, the firing of scientists from ACIP by X post and an op-ed rather than direct communication with these valuable experts, the announcement of new ACIP members by X before onboarding and vetting have completed, and the release of term of reference for an ACIP workgroup that ignored all feedback from career staff at CDC.

The recent term of reference for the COVID vaccine work group created by this ACIP puts people of dubious intent and more dubious scientific rigor in charge of recommending vaccine policy to a director hamstrung and sidelined by an authoritarian leader.   Their desire to please a political base will result in death and disability of vulnerable children and adults.  Their base should be the people they serve not a political voting bloc.

I have always been first to challenge scientific and public health dogma in my career and was excited by the opportunity to do so again.  I was optimistic that there would be an opportunity to brief the Secretary about key topics such as measles, avian influenza, and the highly coordinated approach to the respiratory virus season.  Such briefings would allow exchange of ideas and a shared path to support the vision of “Making America Healthy Again.”  We are seven months into the new administration, and no CDC subject matter expert from my Center has ever briefed the Secretary.  I am not sure who the Secretary is listening to, but it is quite certainly not to us.  Unvetted and conflicted outside organizations seem to be the sources HHS use over the gold standard science of CDC and other reputable sources.  At a hearing, Secretary Kennedy said that Americans should not take medical advice from him.  To the contrary, an appropriately briefed and inquisitive Secretary should be a source of health information for the people he serves. As it stands now, I must agree with him, that he should not be considered a source of accurate information.

The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer.  I believe in nutrition and exercise.  I believe in making our food supply healthier, and I also believe in using vaccines to prevent death and disability.  Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated and is derivative of a legacy that good medicine and science should continue to shun.

The recent shooting at CDC is not why I am resigning.  My grandfather, who I am named after, stood up to fascist forces in Greece and lost his life doing so.  I am resigning to make him and his legacy proud.   I am resigning because of the cowardice of a leader that cannot admit that HIS and his minions’ words over decades created an environment where violence like this can occur.  I reject his and his colleagues’ thoughts and prayers, and advise they direct those to people that they have not actively harmed.

For decades, I have been a trusted voice for the LGBTQ community when it comes to critical health topics.  I must also cite the recklessness of the administration in their efforts to erase transgender populations, cease critical domestic and international HIV programming, and terminate key research to support equity as part of my decision.

Public health is not merely about the health of the individual, but it is about the health of the community, the nation, the world. The nation’s health security is at risk and is in the hands of people focusing on ideological self-interest.

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for the opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration that I have been afforded during my time at the CDC. It has been a privilege to work alongside such dedicated professionals who are committed to improving the health and well-being of communities across the nation even when under attack from within both physically and psychologically.

Thank you once again for the support and guidance I have received from you and previous CDC leadership throughout my tenure. I wish the CDC continued success in its vital mission and that HHS reverse its dangerous course to dismantle public health as a practice and as an institution.  If they continue the current path, they risk our personal well-being and the security of the United States.

Sincerely,

Demetre C. Daskalakis MD MPH (he/his/him)

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

We left a well-oiled machine. They are - once again - letting it rust. I encourage you to read our take on what it takes to stop outbreaks at the source, save lives, and keep Americans safe from bio threats. Pleased to partner with leaders and friends Jon Finer and @spsaki

[The Atlantic @TheAtlantic]

The White House inherited a system for handling outbreaks. No one left knows how to use it, @spsaki, @BethCameron_DC, and Jon Finer argue. https://t.co/2ZjUVmYJfE

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

We also discuss the model new biosecurity program @CEPIvaccines, how CEPI benefits businesses, and how it aims to deliver on equitable access to vaccines everywhere, on time, during health emergencies. Tune in!

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

Listen for this week's episode of A Common Health, from @CSIS, in which I had the great pleasure to host the inimitable @DrRHatchett CEO of @CEPIvaccines. As always, Richard delivers not only wisdom, but also desperately needed optimism.
https://t.co/01l9b0HLyl

[Beth Cameron @BethCameron_DC]

In this episode @DrRHatchett dives into why @CEPIvaccines is critical to national security and how to chart a path forward to deliver on the 100 Days Mission in the midst of seismic changes to the global health landscape.