Pandemic Center

Scott Rivkees, M.D.

Interim Associate Dean for Education, Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Director of the Accelerated Master of Public Health Program
scott_rivkees@brown.edu
Research Profile

Biography

Dr. Rivkees is a pediatric endocrinologist and physician-scientist who served as Florida’s State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health from June 2019 to September 2021, on the front lines of the state’s response through some of the most difficult days and months of the COVID-19 pandemic. As State Surgeon General, Dr. Rivkees also served as State Health Officer for the Florida Department of Health. Dr. Rivkees’ experience and leadership protecting lives and improving public health during emergencies, brings to the Pandemic Center a unique understanding of front-line decision-making to drive effective policy and practice, in the face of public and political obstacles. His background and skills are an asset to understanding pandemic preparedness and response.

Recent News

The Hill

Measles is the imminent threat America should be concerned about

Recently, the Trump administration offered $20 billion to provide re-insurance coverage for vessels sailing through the Strait of Hormuz amid conflict in the Middle East. Yet, closer to home, there is an immediate public health threat posed by the resurgence of measles, a serious disease once under control that needs federal support.

Measles outbreaks are a medical and systems issue, emerging from vaccination behavior, public trust, health policy and the capacity of the public health infrastructure to handle increasing demands. One can rightfully ask whether the idea of federal support for emergency economic issues should also apply to the costs associated with measles.
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The Guardian

Trump administration is failing to address spread of measles, experts say

Experts say that the Trump administration has failed to take obvious steps to contain the spread of measles, which is continuing to accelerate in the United States as the number of cases has climbed past 1,000.

The administration has revealed a relaxed attitude toward the highly contagious virus both in terms of messaging and funding allocation, experts said.
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Brown Daily Herald

New Master’s of Public Health curriculum strives to center flexibility, career readiness

Beginning fall 2026, in-person master’s students in the School of Public Health will matriculate under a newly designed curriculum that has been structured to provide greater flexibility.

The goal is for students to graduate equipped with more hands-on skills and greater knowledge of how to apply their education to their chosen professions, said Associate Director of the Accelerated Master of Public Health Program and Associate Dean for Education in the SPH Scott Rivkees, who spearheaded the curriculum’s restructure.

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Brown Daily Herald

Brown experts discuss measles complications, prevention amid potential loss of measles eliminated status in the US

As measles cases continue to rise, the United States is at risk of losing its measles elimination status.

According to a spokesperson from the Pan American Health Organization, which will oversee the review of the United State’s measles elimination status on April 13, the “reestablishment of endemic transmission would be defined as a continuous chain of transmission lasting through or beyond” Jan. 20.

The Herald spoke to experts at Brown to better understand measles, its potential threats and the possibility of the United States losing its elimination status.

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Providence Journal

RI pediatricians worry over CDC changes for child vaccinations

Scott Rivkees still remembers two cases from his first week as a pediatric intern at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1982.

The first was a patient with chickenpox or varicella encephalitis, a virus that causes brain inflammation. The second was a child with bacterial meningitis, a severe infection that causes inflammation of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord. The infection can produce seizures and deafness and lead to death.
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ASIS International

UK Inquiry Says Government Did ‘Too Little, Too Late,’ in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

The four governments of the United Kingdom responded during the COVID-19 pandemic. But they did “too little, too late,” to effectively stop the virus from spreading during a critical moment in time, according to a national inquiry published this week.

“This lack of urgency and the huge rise in infections made a mandatory lockdown inevitable,” the inquiry report explained. “It should have been introduced one week earlier. Modelling shows that in England alone there would have been approximately 23,000 fewer deaths in the first wave up until 1 July 2020.”

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