Our Faculty

Dr. Stephen Morse's interests focus on epidemiology of infectious diseases, and improving disease early warning systems. In 2000, he returned to Columbia after 4 years in government as program manager for Biodefense at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Department of Defense, where he co-directed the Pathogen Countermeasures program and subsequently directed the Advanced Diagnostics program. Before coming to Columbia, he was assistant professor of Virology at The Rockefeller University in New York, and remains an adjunct faculty member. His book, Emerging Viruses (Oxford University Press) was selected by "American Scientist" for its list of "100 Top Science Books of the 20th Century". Dr. Morse was chair and principal organizer of the 1989 NIAID/NIH (National Institutes of Health) Conference on Emerging Viruses, for which he originated the term and concept of emerging viruses/infections; served as a member of the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Emerging Microbial Threats to Health (and chaired its Task Force on Viruses), and was a contributor to its report, Emerging Infections (1992). He currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Institute of Medicine's Forum on Microbial Threats, and the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Future Biowarfare Threats; and has served as an adviser to numerous government and international organizations. He was the founding chair of ProMED (the nonprofit international Program to Monitor Emerging Diseases) and was one of the originators of ProMED-mail, an international network inaugurated by ProMED in 1994 for outbreak reporting and disease monitoring using the Internet.

PhD, University of Wisconsin, 1977

MS, University of Wisconsin, 1974

BS, City College New York, 1971

Mailman School Affiliations:

• Center for Public Health Preparedness  Curriculum Coordinator
• Center for Infectious Disease Epidemiologic Research 
• National Center for Disaster Preparedness 
• Director, PREDICT Program, USAID Senior Research Scientist

Additional Affiliations:

• Director, USAID PREDICT
• Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
• Fellow, American College of Epidemiology
• Fellow, New York Academy of Sciences (and Past Chair, Microbiology Section)
• Fellow, New York Academy of Medicine
• Founding Chair, ProMED (Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases)

• Fellow, AAAS

Selected Editorial Boards

• Emerging Infectious Diseases (CDC)
• Viral Immunology
• Biosecurity and Bioterrorism

Center for Public Health Preparedness/NCDP
Project URL: http://www.ncdp.mailman.columbia.edu/program_cphp.htm
Dr. Morse works with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) on enhancing emergency preparedness and on training the public health workforce.

NYC DOHMH WMD Advisory Group
Dr. Morse is a member of the DOHMH Bioterrorism Advisory Group.

NYC DOHMH Advisory Committee for the Public Health Laboratories
Dr. Morse is also a member of the DOHMH Advisory Committee for the NYC Public Health Laboratories.

International scientific collaborations
Dr. Morse cooperates with scientists on research in microbiology/virology and development of early warning and response systems for prevention of infectious diseases, and has administered collaborative projects in Russia, Ukraine, Australia, and Senegal. Director, USAID PREDICT project (see below). Additional collaborative influenza and public health projects in Singapore and Hong Kong. Member, Council on Foreign Relations.

Countries: Australia; Bangladesh; Bolivia; Brazil; Cambodia; Cameroon; Congo, Democratic Republic of the; Congo, Republic of the; Hong Kong; Malaysia; Russia; Senegal; Singapore; Tanzania; Uganda; Ukraine; Vietnam

PREDICT Project, USAID (Director) Project URL: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ohi/predict/index.cfm

PREDICT works with scientists in the field in almost two dozen countries worldwide. Cooperates with scientists on developing global surveillance and early warning of emerging infectious diseases, particularly from zoonotic reservoirs, and to develop data on the occurrence of these pathogens (both known and novel) for development of risk-based analytic and predictive approaches. The project is a consortium of institutions, and is a major component of the overall USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) Program.