Pandemic Center

Craig Spencer, M.D., MPH

Associate Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health
craig_spencer@brown.edu
Research Profile
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Biography

Dr. Spencer is an emergency medicine physician and an Associate Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice at Brown University School of Public Health. As a physician he focuses on frontline preparedness, both in the U.S. and globally, especially on the impact of COVID-19 on health systems. This includes the real world impact of pandemic preparedness – or lack of preparedness – for clinicians and patients, particularly from a humanitarian perspective.

An advocate for equitable access to medical countermeasures, diagnostics, and treatment, he also explores the historical foundations for the COVID response, based on the response to previous pandemics. He brings to the Pandemic Center a unique understanding of the current operational level of pandemic preparedness and response, the scope of which includes providers, patients, and frontline readiness, locally, nationally, and globally.

Recent News

NPR: All Things Considered

An emergency room doctor describes what the changes at the CDC could mean for public health

The Trump Administration has made significant changes to the departments in charge of public health. Dr. Craig Spencer, an emergency medicine physician who teaches public health policy at Brown University, discusses the impact he expects on the health of average Americans and for the future of public health research.

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The Atlantic

The Trump Administration Will Automate Health Inequities

The White House’s AI Action Plan, released in July, mentions “health care” only three times. But it is one of the most consequential health policies of the second Trump administration. Its sweeping ambitions for AI—rolling back safeguards, fast-tracking “private-sector-led innovation,” and banning “ideological dogmas such as DEI”—will have long-term consequences for how medicine is practiced, how public health is governed, and who gets left behind.
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ABC News

Trump previously called mRNA vaccines a 'medical miracle.' Now, RFK Jr. cut $500M in funding

When the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2020, President Donald Trump referred to it as a "medical miracle."

"This is one of the greatest scientific accomplishments in history. It will save millions of lives and soon end the pandemic once and for all," Trump said at the time in a speech delivered from the Oval Office.

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New York Times

You Don’t Have to Be a Doctor to Understand This

I don’t know exactly when I was infected with Ebola. As a doctor in a treatment center in Guinea in 2014, I faced hundreds of potential exposures during the outbreak there.

If I had to guess, the virus probably breached my protective gear while my colleagues and I cared for a young woman in the final moments of her battle with the disease. Each time she vomited or soiled herself, we changed her linens, gently laying her listless body back onto clean, burgundy floral sheets. I knew this ritual wouldn’t save her life. I also knew it carried substantial personal risk. But I refused to let her die without dignity. I know there are many who would do the same.

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ABC News

Experts warn RFK Jr. is unraveling the system that kept vaccines safe

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee is set to meet this week for the first time since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all of its sitting members and appointed new ones.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is expected to vote on vaccine recommendations for the fall as well as discuss other vaccines, including those given to children. The group wields enormous influence setting vaccine policy in the United States, including which vaccines will be covered by insurance.
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ABC News

What to expect from the upcoming CDC vaccine advisory committee meeting with RFK Jr.'s new members

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee is set to meet for the first time since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the entire panel and appointed his own hand-selected members.

Earlier this month, Kennedy removed all 17 sitting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and appointed eight new members, some of whom have been critics of shots -- especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ACIP will meet on Wednesday, June 25, and Thursday, June 26, to review scientific data on some vaccines and vote on some fall recommendations.
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