Focus area:
Global Health Security
The Center researched the basis for a common language that would affirm Global Catastrophic Biological Risks (GCBR) as a legitimate object of concern, a foundation necessary to move the field forward and mobilize allies.
To name and frame the problem of GCBRs, the Center’s project team interviewed an interdisciplinary group of thought leaders about GCBR attributes and impacts, opportunities for intervention, and challenges in communicating these details. The team performed a literature review and interviewed more subject-matter experts to derive lessons learned from other times in history when communities needed to be alerted to the possibility of an existential threat.
Analyzing these inputs, the project team then drafted recommendations on how to communicate about GCBRs in ways that catalyze action by influencers, policymakers, and the public, thus guiding the emerging field of GCBR reduction. A plausible and persuasive argument about GCBRs can help motivate previously agnostic or unconvinced audiences to learn more and to work toward finding solutions.
The project report, Risk Communication Strategies for the Very Worst of Cases, is available online.
Project team lead: Monica Schoch-Spana, PhD
Project team: Sanjana Ravi, MPH; Diane Meyer, RN, MPH; Christopher Hurtado, MHS; Kirsten Moore-Sheeley PhD
Project supported by: Open Philanthropy Project
Resources: Final report
Date completed: March 2019
Our Mission
To protect people’s health from epidemics and disasters and ensure that communities are resilient to major challenges.
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