I’ve been trying to get a conversation with today’s interviewee, Eric Van Gieson, PhD, since March. Van Gieson is a remarkable character, with a crazy CV: more than 25 years of experience in developing medical technology, and stints at multiple federal agencies including DARPA.
A lot of people have spilled a lot of ink discussing what went wrong during COVID, but I think what Van Gieson lays out here is close to a comprehensive account of the reasons we blew it, and how not to blow it in the future.
We discuss:
* Why is the federal “pandemic preparedness” apparatus so sprawling?
* Why haven’t we learned from COVID mistakes, or even run reviews on what went wrong?
* How would you revamp the federal apparatus to be ready for the next pandemic?
* We don’t test whether generic drugs can fight pathogens. Why not??
* How did Van Gieson and colleagues ship a flying Ebola hospital in 6 weeks?
* How can we make sure DARPA-developed biotech doesn’t end up in the hands of adversaries?
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