Rick Bright, PhD

Rick Bright, PhD, is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Pandemic Prevention Institute (PPI) at The Rockefeller Foundation. Dr. Bright led the development of the Foundation’s pandemic data-to-action platform that integrates modern technology, data analytics and global partners to help the world detect, prevent, and mitigate pandemic threats to achieve containment as quickly as possible.

Prior to this role, he served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response and the Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Bright has also gained extensive experience in the biotechnology industry where he served in senior leadership and executive management roles. He has held senior scientific leadership positions in non-governmental organizations where he championed innovative vaccine development and expanded vaccine manufacturing capacity to multiple developing countries. He also spent a decade in vaccine, therapeutics, and diagnostics development at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For this work, Dr. Bright received the Charles C. Shepard Science Award for Scientific Excellence.

Dr. Bright sits on the Executive Board of the New York Academy of Sciences’ International Science Reserve and serves as an international subject matter expert in biodefense, emergency preparedness and response, pharmaceutical innovation, vaccine, drug and diagnostics development. He also served as an advisor to the Biden Administration, World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine Forum on Microbial Threats. Dr. Bright is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a Sr. Fellow at the Foreign Policy Association.

Dr. Bright received a PhD in Immunology and Molecular Pathogenesis from Emory University and a BS magna cum laude in Biology and Physical Sciences from Auburn University at Montgomery.