Meet LDI’s New Distinguished Health Policy Fellow Nicole Lurie

Both the government and the health services research community need to work toward a more all-encompassing approach to the national opioid crisis, said former HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Nicole Lurie in a video interview at the University of Pennsylvania.

“I think it’s great to label the opioid crisis a public emergency but that’s only a good thing to do if you take concerted action,” said Lurie. “What I’ve been struck by is the lack of a really multi-faceted big picture strategy about how to address it with multiple lines of effort all working together at once. Instead, what I see are individual efforts around some components of the crisis but not yet all the pieces working together.”

Lurie, MD, MSPH, who oversaw the federal public health response to disasters including Hurricane Sandy, the Boston Marathon Bombing and the Flint water crisis, was recently named a Penn LDI Distinguished Health Policy Fellow. As part of that new role, she visited the Penn Campus to begin mentoring early-career researchers and to attend the annual Penn Health Policy Retreat co-sponsored by LDI and Penn’s Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy.

An alumna who received both her bachelor’s and MD at Penn, Lurie is currently a consultant on preparedness and response issues at the World Bank and a consultant with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation.