
Michaela Simoneau is an associate fellow for global health security with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She manages the secretariat of the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security and formerly managed the secretariat of the CSIS Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security, both groups of senior experts charged with generating bipartisan recommendations to strengthen U.S. and global pandemic preparedness and response policy. This work has included reviews of U.S. agency health security capabilities, multilateral financing, the health needs of vulnerable populations living in the midst of conflict, and the risks and opportunities of emerging biotechnology. In prior roles at CSIS she coordinated projects on vaccine confidence and misinformation, routine immunization, and polio eradication. Ms. Simoneau is a member of the 2023 class of the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity (ELBI) fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Before joining CSIS, she supported research concerning antimicrobial stewardship, the rights of migrants and refugees, and maternal and child health in Coimbatore, India. She holds a BS in biology and international studies from Boston College, where she completed a thesis on the Rohingya refugee crisis.
In the News
Bird flu almost killed this teen. It’s a cautionary tale for Trump officials.
Michaela Simoneau, Maclane Speer, and Sophia Hirshfield in The Washington Post — January 17, 2025
Eyeing Potential Bird Flu Outbreak, Biden Administration Ramps Up Preparedness
J. Stephen Morrison, Maclane Speer, Sophia Hirshfield, and Michaela Simoneau in The New York Times — January 2, 2025
As Biolabs Multiply Globally, Some Experts Worry About Oversight
Michaela Simoneau in Undark — January 2, 2025
Covid is back, and the U.S. is unprepared for the next bug. Here’s what to do.
J. Stephen Morrison and Michaela Simoneau in The Washington Post — January 23, 2024
Drugs Are Not Microchips: Whither Industrial Policy In The Life Sciences?
Michaela Simoneau in Health Affairs — August 18, 2023
All Michaela Simoneau Content
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Don’t Brush Off Bird Flu
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Michaela Simoneau — January 30, 2025

The United States Needs to Step Up Its Response to Bird Flu
Digital Report by Michaela Simoneau, Sophia Hirshfield, and Maclane Speer — December 19, 2024
Charting 2024 through Data
Digital Report by Jaehyun Han, Brian Hart, and Heather Williams, Kelsey Hartigan, Lachlan MacKenzie, Reja Younis, Otto Svendsen, Sissy Martinez, Zane Swanson, Anita Kirschenbaum, David Michel, Henry Ziemer, Michaela Simoneau — March 19, 2024
“Eight Commonsense Actions on Biosafety and Biosecurity”: Audio Brief with Michaela Simoneau
Podcast Episode by Michaela Simoneau — November 21, 2023

Eight Commonsense Actions on Biosafety and Biosecurity
Brief by J. Stephen Morrison and Michaela Simoneau — November 21, 2023
“Drugs Are Not Microchips”: Audio Brief with Michaela Simoneau
Podcast Episode by Michaela Simoneau — August 24, 2023

The Worst is Over—Now What?
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz, J. Stephen Morrison, and Michaela Simoneau — August 18, 2023

Morrison & Simoneau, ‘The Worst is Over—Now What?’
Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz, J. Stephen Morrison, and Michaela Simoneau — August 17, 2023

“The Worst Is Over—Now What?”: Audio Brief with Michaela Simoneau
Podcast Episode by Michaela Simoneau — August 11, 2023

The Worst Is Over—Now What?
Brief by J. Stephen Morrison and Michaela Simoneau — August 9, 2023