Michaela Simoneau

Fellow, Global Health Policy Center
Michaela Simoneau

Michaela Simoneau is a fellow for global health security with the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She leads the secretariat of the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security, a group of senior experts that generates concrete recommendations to strengthen U.S. and global pandemic preparedness and response policy. This work has included analysis on U.S. federal capabilities, global health diplomacy, humanitarian health, and the risks and opportunities of emerging biotechnology. In prior roles at CSIS, she coordinated projects on vaccine confidence and delivery, nutrition, and polio eradication. She is a member of the 2023 class of the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, and her work has been featured in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the BBC. 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 and is pursuing an MPH in humanitarian health and disaster response at the George Washington University.

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Protecting Americans from Biological Threats

As the risks of biological threats rise, Congress and the administration can bolster biodefenses by modernizing biosurveillance, ensuring biosafety and biosecurity, rebuilding the U.S. biodefense enterprise, and strengthening response and recovery.

Report by Paul Friedrichs, J. Stephen Morrison, Michaela Simoneau, and Sophia Hirshfield — February 4, 2026

Audio Briefs

Experts React: Starvation in Gaza

An audio version of “⁠Experts React: Starvation in Gaza⁠,” a new Commentary by CSIS’s Mona Yacoubian, Will Todman, Jon B. Alterman, Caitlin Welsh, Zane Swanson, Michaela Simoneau, Sophia Hirshfield, Hadeil Ali, Andrew Friedman, J. Stephen Morrison, and Leonard Rubenstein. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs. 

Podcast Episode by CSIS Scholars — July 30, 2025

Audio Briefs

Experts React: Starvation in Gaza

CSIS experts react to Gaza’s descent into mass starvation, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, international and domestic pressure on Israel, and more.

Commentary by CSIS Scholars — July 28, 2025

A New Era in Health Security

The CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security presses the administration and Congress to strengthen health security investments to ensure Americans remain protected, U.S. innovation remains competitive, and U.S. programs become more efficient and sustainable.

Brief by CSIS Scholars — July 11, 2025

Bird Flu Spillover Increases the Risk of Dangerous Human Variants

Bird flu now infects over 40 different mammalian species increasing opportunities for the virus to mutate and become more transmissible or lethal in humans. As the virus becomes endemic in wild animal populations,a broader, long-term, multidimensional approach is required.

Analysis by Michaela Simoneau, Sophia Hirshfield, and Maclane Speer — March 25, 2025

The Truth of the Matter

Don’t Brush Off Bird Flu

Michaela Simoneau, associate fellow at CSIS, joins the podcast to discuss the U.S. bird flu outbreak, pandemic warning signs, and tools to contain the virus.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Michaela Simoneau — January 30, 2025

CSIS the truth of the matter

The United States Needs to Step Up Its Response to Bird Flu

The United States continues to fall short in managing the threat of bird flu. Although the risk of widespread H5N1 human-to-human transmission currently appears low, enhanced response measures are needed to protect the health and national security of the United States.

Digital Report by Michaela Simoneau, Sophia Hirshfield, and Maclane Speer — December 19, 2024

Charting 2024 through Data

CSIS experts offer insights on some of the most important issue areas shaping the world in 2024.

Digital Report by CSIS Scholars — March 19, 2024

Eight Commonsense Actions on Biosafety and Biosecurity

The CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security’s Working Group on R&D Innovation advocates eight commonsense actions to strengthen U.S. and global biosafety and biosecurity and promote a safer, more secure, and more innovative global bioeconomy. 

Brief by J. Stephen Morrison and Michaela Simoneau — November 21, 2023