Session Information:

The National Health Security Strategy

The National Health Security Strategy (NHSS) 2023-2026 sits at the nexus of public health, health care, and national security to establish a national framework for strengthening the nation’s health security in times of crises. Every four years, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) develops the National Health Security Strategy (NHSS) to provide a strategic approach to enhance and adapt health care, public health, and emergency preparedness and response no matter the threat. The 2023-2026 NHSS includes an enhanced focus on several challenges exacerbated during COVID-19 and other public health emergencies, including supply chain resiliency, health care and public health workforce capacity, risk communication, and health equity. The 2023-2026 NHSS Implementation Plan emphasizes partnerships and recommends partner actions that advance preparedness. The NHSS Evaluation of Progress examines the actions taken by the United States between 2019 and 2022. The 2023-2026 NHSS builds on the progress made between 2019 and 2022 to provide a strategic direction that can be used to better protect people in communities nationwide from health security threats in the years to come.

When:

Webinar:

Presenter:

Darrin Donato

Darrin Donato serves as Director of the Policy Division at the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). At ASPR, Mr. Donato leads the implementation of the National Health Security Strategy, coordinates domestic and global health security policy, oversees ASPR’s Federal Advisory Committees, and manages policy issues related to climate change, health equity, at-risk individual needs, and resilience.  Mr. Donato has 30 years of experience working in diverse roles at the federal, state, and community levels with a focus on public health emergency policy; disaster preparedness, response, and recovery; community resilience; and behavioral health. He was Technical Assistance Director at Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Disaster Technical Assistance Center and has served as Director of Disaster Mental Health for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. He has supported the response to dozens of major disasters and mass casualty events including September 11^th, Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Superstorm Sandy, and the COVID-19 pandemic.  He led the Massachusetts Crisis Counseling Program following the events of September 11^th. Earlier in his career, Mr. Donato worked in in-patient forensic psychiatric services and directed community programs for people experiencing chronic mental illness.

Megan Hoffmann

Megan Hoffmann serves as a Senior Management Analyst in the Policy Division at ASPR. At ASPR, Ms. Hoffmann supports the management of the National Health Security Strategy and analyzes domestic and global policy issues to advance health security, including issues related to emergency preparedness, medical countermeasures, information technology, behavioral health, health equity, and climate change. Ms. Hoffmann has almost a decade of experience working at the federal level, with experience in systems biology research management at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), where she primarily focused on antimicrobial resistance, viral hemorrhagic fevers, and influenza, and policy and data analytics at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. She supported NIAID’s response to Ebola and Zika to mobilize research funding, and ASPR’s COVID-19 pandemic response. She holds a Master of Public Health in Global Health Epidemiology and Disease Control from George Washington University, where she researched predictors of first onset of depression in adolescents. 

Ms. Hoffmann graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She danced in THON for her sorority, Omega Phi Alpha, and is part of a longline of Penn State graduates in her family. We Are!

Interested in the Public Health Preparedness Option?
Contact: publichealthpreparedness@psu.edu.
Visit: The Public Health Preparedness Option website