Nellie Bristol

Senior Associate (Non-resident), Global Health Policy Center
Nellie Bristol

Nellie Bristol is a senior associate with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center. She leads the Center’s work on efforts to repurpose polio eradication assets for long-term disease control and toward other global health priorities. In addition to an active working group convened to discuss eradication and transition as it relates to U.S. global health policy, she writes extensively on the issue and consults with other organizations focused on transition planning. She also writes about U.S. government relations with multilateral organizations, including the World Health Organization and the World Bank Group. Her major reports for CSIS include Catalyzing Health Gains through Global Polio Eradication, which focused on polio transition in India; Bolstering Public Health Capacities through Global Polio Eradication, which examined polio assets in Ethiopia; The Power of Straight Talk, which looked at the impact of the Independent Monitoring Board on eradication efforts. Bristol came to CSIS following a long career as a health policy journalist. She spent two decades writing about domestic health policy on Capitol Hill before expanding her coverage to global health in 2005. Bristol has written for top publications in the field including The Lancet, Health Affairs, and Congressional Quarterly, covering HIV/AIDS policy, foreign aid and national security, noncommunicable diseases, and efforts to combat maternal mortality. She holds a master’s degree in public health/global health from George Washington University.

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High-Level Action Missing on Pandemic Preparedness

More high-level multisectoral leadership, both at the national and UN level, is critical to galvanizing the coordination and protections needed to ensure a rapid, effective response when the next health crisis hits.

Commentary by Nellie Bristol — October 6, 2023

Strengthening the Health Workforce to Reach Global Immunization Goals

The CSIS Global Health Policy Center will host a discussion regarding opportunities to improve immunization programs through activities focused on health workforce recruitment, training, retention and professional development, including pre-service training and mentorship initiatives to prepare managers for leadership positions.

Event — October 3, 2023

Smallpox Eradication: A Model for Global Cooperation

This brief for the “Advancing Collaboration in an Era of Strategic Competition” project explores the motivations and mechanisms behind U.S.-Soviet coordination on smallpox eradication, drawing lessons for how rivals can approach collaboration on issues of shared concern.

Brief by Nellie Bristol — May 17, 2023

Innovation for Eradication

This report in our series on U.S. support for global polio eradication explores how ongoing research has allowed the eradication program to learn in real time, overcoming new obstacles and building a body of knowledge that can be applied to other global health campaigns.

Report by Nellie Bristol and Michaela Simoneau — July 2, 2020

The U.S. Government and Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a slow-moving epidemic that kills hundreds of thousands annually. The COVID-19 pandemic will worsen the problem. The U.S. government should take immediate action to mitigate the threat posed by AMR domestically and globally.

Report by Nellie Bristol — June 9, 2020

Ensuring Healthy Populations through a New Era of Global Immunization

As global immunization organizations craft new strategies for the next decade of their work, the CSIS Global Health Policy Center convened a day-long conference to discuss how to anticipate and overcome remaining challenges to equity, trust, and security.

Report by Nellie Bristol — December 20, 2019

Securing Healthy Populations in a New Era of Global Immunization

The CSIS Global Health Policy Center will host a major conference on September 27 that will examine the innovations attempting to meet these demands and enhance global stability and health security in the next decade of global immunization.

Event — September 27, 2019

Enhancing U.S. Leadership in a New Era of Global Immunization

U.S. government investments in global immunization increase global stability and prosperity and protect Americans from disease. As momentum in vaccine coverage has stalled, new approaches are needed to deliver health services to unreached populations.

Brief by Nellie Bristol Michaela Simoneau and Katherine E. Bliss — September 27, 2019

Orchestrating Global Polio Eradication

This sixth installment in our series on U.S. support for global polio eradication explores the evolution of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, discussing how its multi-layered governance model, while unwieldy at times, has proven the value of partnerships through its success.

Report by Nellie Bristol and Michaela Simoneau — September 26, 2019