James Lawler, MD, MPH, FIDSA, is an infectious disease physician trained in tropical medicine and public health whose career has focused on emerging infectious diseases, pandemic threats, biodefense, and health system preparedness. He is Associate Director for International Programs and Innovation for the Global Center for Health Security, Woody and Paula Varner Professor, Professor of Medicine in Infectious Disease, and Deputy Medical Director for the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). He is a Fellow of the National Strategic Research Institute of the University of Nebraska System.
Dr. Lawler is a recognized leader in health emergency preparedness and response, and he currently serves as Principal Investigator for the Region Seven Disaster Health Response Ecosystem. He twice served in health security positions at the White House within the Homeland Security Council Biodefense Office and the National Security Council (NSC) Resilience Directorate, where he led development and coordination of national policy related to medical and public health preparedness, pandemic and public health emergency response, medical countermeasure R&D, biosurveillance, and clinical care for domestic and international health threats. While at NSC, he co-led White House activities to coordinate national policy in response to the 2009-H1N1 influenza pandemic.
As a research investigator at the US Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), Dr. Lawler was one of the few uniformed physicians ever to become qualified in biosafety level-4 (BSL-4) laboratory operations, directing animal model research for multiple highly dangerous pathogens. He also initiated some of the first collaborative clinical research efforts for the DoD Cooperative Threat Reduction Program in the Caucasus.
Dr. Lawler later led development of BSL-3/4 laboratory safety systems and strategic research plans as Chief Medical Officer of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Integrated Research Facility at Fort Detrick. He subsequently moved to Naval Medical Research Center, where he founded and led the Austere Environments Consortium for Enhanced Sepsis Outcomes (ACESO), an international network developing practical solutions for management of severe infectious diseases in resource-limited settings.
Dr. Lawler has responded to multiple infectious disease emergencies, including Ebola and Marburg in Africa and COVID-19 domestically and abroad. He is an authority on management of high-consequence infections and has consulted for multiple non-governmental organizations, national ministries of health, the World Health Organization, and the US Government. In 2014, he was the principal subject matter expert for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff planning process for West Africa Ebola response (Operation United Assistance), advising the Chairman, Joint Chiefs, and senior Department of Defense (DoD) officials. He led development of DoD’s domestic Ebola Medical Support Team and served as the team’s principal technical expert. His operational medical experience includes duty as a Marine infantry battalion surgeon, in disaster relief operations aboard the hospital ship USNS Comfort, and with the NATO Role 3 Hospital in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
In early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Lawler assisted in leading a small team that deployed to Yokohama, Japan, to repatriate American citizens quarantined aboard the cruise ship Diamond Princess, coordinated quarantine and isolation care for some of the first cohorts of exposed/infected Americans returned from Wuhan and Yokohama, helped develop early management protocols for COVID-19, and characterized environmental contamination related to the care of COVID-19 patients. Dr. Lawler has advised local, state, and national leadership as well a variety of entities in the public and private sectors on COVID-19 response. Dr. Lawler served as a key member of the COVID Crisis Group which published Lessons From the COVID War: An Investigative Report in 2023.
Dr. Lawler graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine after receiving his undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University. Before joining UNMC, he served 21 years active service in the US Navy Medical Corps.
