Investment in continent’s health professionals is key to early outbreak response
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Pandemic Center
Wilmot James, Ph.D.
Senior Adviser to the Brown Pandemic Center, Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health; Director of the Africa Initiative
Biography
Dr. James, an internationally recognized thought leader in biosecurity, global health, and pandemic preparedness, is a Senior Adviser to the Pandemic Center and a Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice.
Dr. James has served as a Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister of Health in South Africa, and most recently held positions at Columbia University as Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy and as Chair of the Center for Pandemic Research in the College of Arts and Sciences. Wilmot serves as an advisor to the G7-led Global Partnership's Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa and on the boards of BEACON, Resolve to Save Lives and the Mirror Biology Dialogue Fund. Dr. James will use his extensive experience to address public health and national security challenges in his role as senior advisor to the Pandemic Center.
Dr. James serves as the new director of the Watson School’s Africa Initiative. James focus on the initiative highlights African contributions to global affairs and on the continent’s future and untapped potential.
Recent News
Wilmot James, an internationally recognized public health expert and former member of South Africa’s Parliament, is the new director of the Watson School’s Africa Initiative. James has ambitious plans for the initiative, which will highlight African contributions to global affairs and focus on the continent’s future and untapped potential.
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On July 1, 2026, the Watson School appointed three new leaders in academic programming and welcomed two new center directors.
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Nature | Africa
Africa’s pandemic preparedness improves, but safety gaps remain
A new Africa-specific health security index finds strong gains in laboratories and disease surveillance since 2021, but biosecurity, biosafety and systems for delivering vaccines and treatments continue to lag.
African countries have spent the past five years building laboratories, expanding disease surveillance and improving outbreak detection. Now, the continent’s first health security assessment cautions that the next stage of preparedness will depend on making those investments safer, better connected and more resilient.
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African countries have spent the past five years building laboratories, expanding disease surveillance and improving outbreak detection. Now, the continent’s first health security assessment cautions that the next stage of preparedness will depend on making those investments safer, better connected and more resilient.
A new Africa Health Security Index released Wednesday found the continent’s average preparedness score has risen nearly 30 percent in five years to 41.5 out of 100, but its biosecurity and biosafety scores remain critically low even as an Ebola outbreak spreads across the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
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IPS News Agency
Africa’s Health Defenses Have Improved But Its Funding Has Not
Against the backdrop of an Ebola disease outbreak, the new Africa Health Security (AHS) Index, released today, reveals significant gaps in critical health infrastructure despite important progress in health security capacity in recent years.
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