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
Twitter

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

The Times

The containment colony: why Trump won’t bring ebola doctors home

By the time Craig Spencer was checking his temperature twice a day, President Trump had already spent the summer railing against bringing home American aid workers who contracted ebola in west Africa.

“People that go to far away places to help out are great — but must suffer the consequences!” Trump wrote at height of the last outbreak 12 years ago. “Stop the EBOLA patients from entering the U.S. Treat them, at the highest level, over there. THE UNITED STATES HAS ENOUGH PROBLEMS!”

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Stat News

As Ebola outbreak in Central Africa grows, the U.S. turns itself into a fortress

When Craig Spencer contracted Ebola while working in Guinea during the West African outbreak in 2014, he was already back in the United States when he first developed symptoms. He credits the treatment he got at New York’s Bellevue Hospital for his survival.

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NBC Meet the Press

Doctor who survived Ebola says there needs to be ‘less lip service and more boots on the ground’

The deadly Ebola outbreak is spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Public health researcher and Ebola survivor Dr. Craig Spencer joins Meet the Press NOW to discuss the need for urgent international action for what could become the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever.
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ABC News

Doctor who survived Ebola said he knows the fear of being infected

Dr. Craig Spencer, who was infected with Ebola when treating patients in an outbreak in 2014 , tells ABC News he is “certain” the current outbreak is “much bigger” than what current numbers show.

"My biggest concern about this outbreak is that we learned way too much way too quickly for this to be anything but really bad,” Spencer said.

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PBS News Hour

Doctor who survived Ebola shares concerns about latest outbreak in Central Africa

Health officials are racing to contain a rapidly expanding outbreak of Ebola in Africa. At least 116 suspected deaths and more than 300 other cases have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring Uganda. The CDC says an American medical missionary has contracted the disease. Amna Nawaz discussed more with Dr. Craig Spencer, who contracted Ebola during a 2014 outbreak.

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