Dr. Michael Osterholm is a professor and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. He is the author of the 2017 book, “Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs” in which he not only details the most pressing infectious disease threats of our day but lays out a nine-point strategy on how to address them, with preventing a global flu pandemic at the top of the list. His recent op-ed in the New York Times is entitled “We’re not Ready For a Flu Pandemic.”

“I have raised from the beginning on the public health budget: this is about national security. Whether a bomb comes lands somewhere in our country or bullets kill our troops or land mines, you know, infectious agents are much more efficient at it and can do it overnight. And we see that. And in a sense this is about national security… We need a moonshot approach on this flu vaccine, because again, the cost of even one pandemic will be so substantial any investment we make on this will be pennies on the dollar in savings.” Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.