White House official who oversaw creation of ‘pandemic playbook’ to depart this spring
A statue of Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans occupies the center of Lafayette Square on the north side of the White House on January 20
By Donald Judd
The Biden administration’s senior director for global health security and biodefense on the White House National Security Council will depart her post this spring, CNN has learned.
As part of her portfolio with the NSC, Dr. Beth Cameron was one of the White House officials tasked with fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cameron previously served in the same role as part of the Obama administration, where she oversaw creation of a “pandemic playbook” aimed at countering future pandemics, which went largely ignored by the Trump administration in the early days of the Covid-19 response. She also served on the administration team responsible for devising a plan to improve preparedness for pandemics or other biological threats last year, an initiative the administration compared to the Apollo moon shot program.
Axios was first to report Cameron’s upcoming departure.
“Dr. Beth Cameron will be departing NSC this spring. Dr. Cameron was a key member of the of the Day One team to re-establish her former office and help build the U.S. global COVID-19 response and strengthen biosecurity,” NSC spokesperson Emily Horne wrote in a statement Tuesday, adding she “will remain at the NSC into the spring to ensure strong continuity of effort.”
Cameron will be replaced by Dr. Raj Panjabi, who serves as US global malaria coordinator for the US President’s Malaria Initiative at USAID, Horne told CNN.
A White House official praised Cameron’s tenure on the NSC, telling CNN Tuesday, “Beth has been an amazing leader, dating back to the transition. She’s smart, effective, and a great colleague. She’ll be missed — but we’re all grateful she extended her timeline and helped identify a strong successor on this crucial account.”
Originally committing for a nine-month tenure, Cameron extended her role for an additional six months, concluding this spring.
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