Former White House COVID-19 Coordinator to Speak at Ford Center

The talk is scheduled for noon in the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts and is free and open to the public.

Known for her scientific expertise, use of data and wearing colorful scarves during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Birx will be the featured speaker of the Charles W. Hartman Memorial Lecture Series sponsored by the Ole Miss School of Pharmacy.

In her presentation "Lessons from Pandemics Response Across the Globe: Moving to 21st Century Technology to Prevent, Detect and Respond Successfully," she will speak about the importance of data in times of uncertainty.

She hopes those in attendance learn "the importance of gathering information – if needed, from around the globe – how to present data in compelling ways, how to listen to the reality on the ground and to understand that data is only worth collecting if you are going to use it to help others."

Birx has used data throughout her career to help others. As a colonel in the U.S. Army, she served as director of the U.S. military HIV research program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.

She led a groundbreaking HIV vaccine trial that provided key evidence of the vaccine's potential strength to prevent infection.

From 2005 to 2014, Birx supervised the Centers for Disease Control's Division of Global HIV/AIDS. As global AIDS coordinator, she managed the U.S. President's Plan for AIDS Relief that provided prevention and treatment activities for people around the world.

"As a renowned physician who has served in public health for more than 40 years, Dr. Birx's insights are invaluable to the health care community," said Donna Strum, dean of the pharmacy school.

Birx's expertise involves clinical and basic immunology, infectious disease, pandemic preparedness, vaccine research and global and rural health. She is a Bush Institute senior fellow and a professor at Texas Tech University of Health Science Center.

In 2022, Birx completed her first book, "Silent Invasion," about her work on the White House Coronavirus Task Force. She is CEO of Armata Pharmaceuticals, focusing on developing medicines for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.

"We are honored to welcome her to our campus and eagerly look forward to learning from her vast experience," Strum said.

The Hartman Lecture was established in 1973 to honor the late Charles W. Hartman, who served as the pharmacy school's dean from 1961 to 1970.