Thomas V. Inglesby Named Director of UPMC Center for Biosecurity

Thomas V. Inglesby

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) named Thomas V. Inglesby to be the new director and chief executive officer of the Center for Biosecurity of UPMC. He succeeds Tara O’Toole, who was recently appointed Under Secretary for Science and Technology in the Department of Homeland Security.

Inglesby is a professor of medicine and public health in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Graduate School of Public Health and has been the chief operating officer and deputy director of the Baltimore-based Center for Biosecurity since its founding in 2003. An infectious diseases physician by training, Inglesby was one of the founding members of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies, where he was the deputy director from 2001 to 2003.

Inglesby has been an advisor to numerous government, scientific, and academic organizations on issues related to biosecurity. He has served on committees of the Defense Science Board and the National Research Council of the National Academies of Sciences. Most recently, he was appointed to the Technical Committee on National Health Security Strategy and as a member of the Maryland Governor’s H1N1 Flu Advisory Board.

“Building on the center’s already strong foundation, it is my intention that the center will continue to provide insightful, constructive, and respected policy analysis and practical recommendations aimed at preventing and mitigating the effects of biological threats and other serious health challenges,” said Inglesby. “I will place a particular priority on improving the nation’s response to H1N1, on strategies to address the evolving biological weapons threat, and on international partnerships to confront these issues.”

The Center for Biosecurity is an independent, nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen national security by reducing the risks posed by biological attacks, epidemics, and other destabilizing events, and to improve the nation’s resilience in the face of such events.