Indian American Dr. Nahid Bhadelia Returns to Boston University After Leading White House COVID-19 Response Team

Indian American infectious diseases physician Dr. Nahid Bhadelia has returned to Boston University to lead the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research. She previously was a senior policy adviser for the White House Covid-19 response team.

The White House COVID-19 Response Team, which was disbanded on May 11, was established by President Joe Biden to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. The team, led most recently by Dr. Ashish Jha, began “to dwindle in recent months as the administration has started to shift its response to the virus from the emergency that defined the early part of President Joe Biden’s term in office,” as reported by CNN.

Bhadelia was born in India and grew up in Sweden and Saudi Arabia. She came to the United States as a teenager. A BU School of Medicine associate professor of infectious diseases, she is the founder of Boston University’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research (CEID). She is taking a sabbatical for the duration of the full-time position, Boston University’s The Brink reported. 

Since founding CEID in 2021, Bhadelia has grown it into a hub for research and actionable policies—the center has contributed to congressional hearings, advised legislative offices, prepared policy briefs, and provided input on pandemic preparedness bills.

See Also

OnlyFans CEO Amrapali ‘Ami’ Gan to Leave Internet Content Subscription Service Company to Focus on Firm She Founded

In addition to her role at CEID, she is the associate director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), a state-of-the-art maximum containment research facility at BU.

She worked in West and East Africa during multiple Ebola virus outbreaks, contributed to pandemic preparedness in Liberia and Uganda, and co-directs the BU and University of Liberia Emerging and Epidemic Virus Research Program, which is funded by the Fogarty International Center. She’s also a member of the World Health Organization’s Technical Advisory Group for Universal Health and Preparedness Review, which is working to improve the metrics used to measure pandemic preparedness.