National Public Health Week Seminar Series
Speakers and Topics
Elin Gursky, Sc.D.
Bio
Elin Gursky, Sc.D., is a Fellow and the Principal Deputy for
Biodefense in the National Strategies Support Directorate of
ANSER/Analytic Services (Arlington, VA). Leading ANSER’s
Health Security Strategy portfolio, she focuses her efforts at
the nexus of public health and homeland security. An epidemiologist
and public health practitioner, Dr. Gursky has held senior leadership
positions in local and state public health and the hospital sector.
Previous to her arrival at ANSER in September 2002, Dr. Gursky
completed a one-year fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Center for
Civilian Biodefense Strategies. Dr. Gursky received a Doctor
of Science degree (’85) from the Johns Hopkins University
Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has extensive experience
applying population-protection strategies to mitigate large-scale
epidemics, including epidemiological investigations and outbreak
control, pre- and post-event vaccination, post-exposure prophylaxis,
and risk assessment and communication. Dr. Gursky has held faculty
positions at Johns Hopkins, has developed graduate-level coursework,
and teaches and guest lectures frequently in the areas of public
health practice and biodefense policy. She has contributed to
the development of national health policy, testified before congressional
subcommittees, and helped promulgate state health legislation.
Dr. Gursky has advised officials from the Department of Homeland
Security, Northern Command (NORTHCOM), and the Joint Task Force
Civil Support on their interface with the civilian sector on
issues pertaining to bioterrorism preparedness and response.
Between 2005 and 2006 she supported efforts by the Subcommittee
on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness, Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) to reauthorize
critical public health legislation. Dr. Gursky recently served
as core faculty in Macedonia for an 11-country, two-week meeting
on threats and preparedness sponsored by NATO.
Dr. Gursky's recent publications include Pivotal Steps to Building
Global Health Security; Epidemic Proportions: Building National
Public Health Capabilities to meet National Security Threats;
Drafted to Fight Terror: U.S. Public Health on the Front Lines
of Biological Defense; The Threat of Smallpox: Eradicated But
Not Erased; Hometown Hospitals–The Weakest Link? Bioterrorism
Readiness in America’s Rural Hospitals; Progress and Peril:
Bioterrorism Preparedness Dollars and Public Health; and Anthrax
2001: Observations on the Medical and Public Health Response.
