Media Advisory

Teleconference with Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Dr. Sarah Bennett, Commander, United States Public Health Service , and Head of the International Task Force for COVID-19, CDC.

EVENT: The U.S. Department of State will host a telephonic briefing on Thursday, March 26, at 8:30AM Eastern Time with Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Dr. Sarah Bennett, Commander, United States Public Health Service, and Head of the International Task Force for COVID-19, CDC.

Dr. Messonnier and Dr. Bennett will discuss the CDC’s coordination with international partners, cooperation with Ministries of Health, and global health protection information around the COVID-19 pandemic.

SPEAKERS: Dr. Nancy Messonnier, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Dr. Sarah Bennett, Commander, United States Public Health Service, and Head of the International Task Force for COVID-19, CDC

DATE FOR BRIEFING: Thursday, March 26, 2020

TIME: 8:30 AM Eastern Time

Please use Time Zone Converter to determine the start time of the event for you.

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

GROUND RULES: ON-THE-RECORD, attributable to Dr. Nancy Messonnier and Dr. Sarah Bennett

Please indicate if you will dial in or request that we dial out to you. IF DIAL OUT, please provide the phone number, including country code, where we can reach you.

QUESTIONS? Please send an email to PAIMEstaff@state.gov

LOGISTICS:

Callers should dial in to the conference call at least 10 minutes early.  The operator will ask for your name, press affiliation, and location. 

Speakers will give brief opening remarks, and then the moderator will open the floor to questions.

Participants will be instructed to press “1”, then “0”, on their phones to enter the question and answer queue. You may also submit questions in advance via email to PAIMEstaff@state.gov

If you experience technical difficulties during the call, you may email PAIMEstaff@state.gov to alert the moderator.

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Nancy Messonnier, MD, is the Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since beginning her public health career in 1995 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer in the Office of the Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases, Dr. Messonnier has held a number of leadership posts across CDC and within NCIRD. She served as Deputy Director of NCIRD from October 2014-March 2016, and led the Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch in NCIRD’s Division of Bacterial Diseases from 2007-2012. Dr. Messonnier has provided critical leadership to CDC’s cross-cutting laboratory, global health, and public health surveillance initiatives.

Sarah Bennett (Commander, United States Public Health Service) is a medical officer and epidemiologist in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Global Immunization Division, where she works on improving access to and use of routine immunizations. Dr. Bennett previously worked in CDC’s Division of Global Health Protection, supporting epidemiology, laboratory, and disease surveillance activities in multiple countries. From August 2014–December 2016, she supported CDC’s West African Ebola outbreak response, focusing on disease surveillance, case management, infection prevention and control, and emergency response and preparedness. Before the West African Ebola outbreak, Dr. Bennett was assigned to CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases and specialized in outbreaks caused by pathogens spread by food, water, animal contact, or other environmental sources.