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POSTPONED: DC | Coronavirus: A Global Threat to Health, Wealth & Security
Thursday, March 19, 2020, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM EDT
Category: Events

This event has been postponed due to COVID-19 precautions and current CDC guidance on events and gatherings. In lieu of our in-person conversation, we will share several articles from our panelists in the coming week. When the suspension is lifted, we intend to reschedule as many programs as possible. Thank you for your understanding and we look forward to welcoming you at future WFPG programming.

WFPG's Beyond the Headlines Series | Coronavirus: A Global Threat to Health, Wealth & Security

 



Anna Ashton, US-China Business Council
Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal, New America
Miyeon Oh, Atlantic Council
Stephanie Segal, CSIS
Eileen Drage O'Reilly, Axios, Moderator

 

The COVID-19 coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has rapidly spread across borders, dominating the news cycle. What was originally regarded as a regional public health issue is now impacting global trade, travel, and business--not to mention, spreading panic and stressing local and national emergency response and healthcare systems. Beyond the immediate turmoil, what will be the lasting impact of this crisis? Will there be any changes to US-China trade negotiations? How will the virus impact manufacturing and supply chains? What steps should the US and the world’s leading actors take now?

 


 

Anna Ashton, senior director of government affairs at the US-China Business Council, has served as a China analyst in both public and private sector positions. She began her career as an intelligence officer for the Department of Defense, where she briefed the Vice President, the Secretary of Defense and military officials on strategic China issues. During the course of her career, Ashton has focused on China trade and investment at the US Chamber of Commerce, worked as an economic and trade analyst at the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, developed a strategy to attract Chinese investment in her home state of Arkansas, and directed USCBC's business advisory services. Ashton holds a JD from Georgetown Law, a BA from Wellesley, and an MA in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Rear Admiral Susan J. Blumenthal, MD, MPA, served for over two decades as a top health official in the Administrations of four US Presidents. She served as Assistant Surgeon General, the country’s first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women’s Health, Senior Global Health Advisor in HHS, and as a White House Advisor on health. She has established several international health collaborations including a Middle East Health Initiative and has been at the forefront of applying technology to advance health. Dr. Blumenthal has also been involved in the national response to bioterrorism and emerging disease threats. She is currently a Senior Fellow in Health Policy at New America, the Senior Medical Advisor at amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, and a Clinical Professor at Tufts and Georgetown University Schools of Medicine. She has received numerous awards including honorary doctorates and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal of the US Public Health Service for her pioneering leadership and contributions to advancing health. 

Dr. Miyeon Oh is director and senior fellow of the Asia Security Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. She has significant experience in both academia and working in the public sector with the United Nations and Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She was also a Smith Richardson Foundation Strategy and Policy Fellow and a predoctoral fellow at Brookings. Her areas of expertise include energy security, infrastructure development and digital connectivity, and the changing geopolitical and economic landscape in the Indo-Pacific driven by US-China strategic competition. Dr. Oh has published numerous articles including “How Energy Infrastructure is Shaping Geopolitics in East Asia” and “A Strategy of the Trans-Pacific Century: Final Report of the Atlantic Council’s Asia-Pacific Strategy Task Force.” She holds a PhD from John Hopkins SAIS and master’s degrees from both the Harvard Kennedy School and Yonsei University in Korea.

Stephanie Segal is senior fellow of the CSIS Simon Chair in Political Economy. Previously, she served as co-director of the East Asia Office at the Department of the Treasury. Prior to Treasury, she was senior economist at the International Monetary Fund, where she covered a range of emerging market and advanced country economies. Earlier in her career, Segal served as an economist in the Western Hemisphere, Southeast Asia, and International Monetary Policy offices at Treasury; as an adviser to the US director at the IMF; and as an analyst and then associate in Mergers & Acquisitions at JP Morgan in New York. She earned her master's degree from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Eileen Drage O'Reilly, an award-winning journalist, writes Axios Science vertical, where she covers public health and genetics, including Axios's coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. As Axio's standards and style editor, she also promotes journalism best practices. O'Reilly has more than a decade of experience serving as a foreign correspondent in Japan, Singapore and Switzerland where she reported on politics, regulatory issues and international business for multiple media organizations. She is a member of the National Press Club board and is a judge for the NPC's journalism awards and scholarships. She holds an MA in Asia-Pacific studies from University of Leeds and a BA in journalism from Marquette University.