Dr. Ali S. Khan is Dean and Tenured Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health, and a Retired Assistant Surgeon General. Previously, he served at the CDC for 23 years before retiring as the director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. During his time at the CDC, Dr. Khan led and responded to numerous high-profile domestic and international public health emergencies, including hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Ebola virus disease, the Asian Tsunami (2004), and the initial public health response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Dr. Khan served as one of the main architects of the CDC’s public health bioterrorism preparedness program, which was crucial in limiting the scope of the first anthrax attack. He also founded the CDC’s Public Health Matters blog and has been personally engaged in Guinea worm and polio eradication activities. While directing global infectious disease activities, he designed the laboratory component of the CDC’s field epidemiology and training program. He also helped design and implement the CDC component of the $1.2 billion, five-year President’s Malaria Initiative.

In 2016 Dr. Khan published “The Next Pandemic: On the Front Lines Against Humankind’s Gravest Dangers” with William Patrick.

Collaboration with Community Climate Awareness Week, School of Natural Resources.