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Margaret Bourdeaux

Faculty Associate; Co-Lead, BKC Policy Practice: Digital Pandemic Response

Margaret Bourdeaux, MD, MPH, conducts research and field work focused on health systems and institutions in conflict affected states. She works closely with Harvard Medical School’s Global Public Policy and Social Change program and spearheads the Fragile Setting Health System working group. She has worked with the Office of the Secretary of Defense Policy to analyze the US Department of Defense’s global health projects and programs. She led a joint Harvard-NATO team of analysts to evaluate the impacts, challenges and opportunities international security forces have in protecting and rebuilding health systems in conflict affected states.

She earned her B.A. at Harvard University, her M.D. from Yale Medical School, completed her combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA and completed her MPH at Harvard School of Public Health. She was one of the first graduates of the Global Women’s Fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.


Projects & Tools

BKC Policy Practice: Digital Pandemic Response

The BKC Policy Practice on Digital Pandemic Response is an interdisciplinary program that works with public and private decision makers on difficult questions around the use of…


News

Mar 31, 2021

Reopening Schools: A Primer for State and Local Leaders

A policy memo outlining two key strategies for state and local leaders looking to more safely reopen their schools: enhancing school air quality and implementing robust screening…

Mar 4, 2021

Organizing, Budgeting, and Implementing Wraparound Services for People in Quarantine and Isolation

A policy memo summarizing key arguments in favor of wraparound-supported quarantine and isolation programs.

Nov 24, 2020

Retrospective Contact Tracing: A Primer For State And Territorial Health Authorities

This policy memo details key features of retrospective contact tracing and lays out five recommendations for state and local public health authorities who are seeking to deploy…

News
Aug 21, 2020

“No simple answer”

“Covid State of Play” examines sick buildings, planning lags, and reopening

Talk covers COVID-19 and the need for creative, and swift, solutions

Harvard Law Today
Jul 30, 2020

‘Feeding the virus’?

At a Berkman Klein Center event, experts rate U.S. response and outline steps necessary to defeat the virus

Talk assesses the U.S. response to COVID-19 and outlines steps necessary to defeat the virus.

The New York Times
Jul 16, 2020

Testing Is on the Brink of Paralysis. That’s Very Bad News.

Jonathan Zittrain, Margaret Bourdeaux, and Beth Cameron call on governors to unite

“Our pandemic fight requires prompt testing results — and singular cooperation among the states to achieve them.”


Community

Letter and Politics

The Coronavirus Variants and The Vaccine: A Race Between Team Covid and Team Human

Margaret Bourdeaux joins Letters and Politics talk show to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine

Feb 1, 2021
Vanity Fair

How Jared Kushner’s Secret Testing Plan “Went Poof Into Thin Air”

Margaret Bourdeaux speaks with Vanity Fair about the U.S. COVID testing system

Jul 30, 2020

Events

Mar 18, 2021 @ 12:00 PM

Reopening Schools: How States Can Ensure Safe Buildings, Testing Capacity, and Contact Tracing Programs for Students and Staff

Video & Podcast: A Seminar for State & Local Leaders

Video & Podcast: A Seminar for State & Local Leaders

Feb 23, 2021 @ 12:00 PM

Organizing, Budgeting, and Implementing Wraparound Services for People in Quarantine and Isolation

Video & Podcast: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and Considerations for Future State Responses

Video & Podcast: Join Dr. Margaret Bourdeaux, Dr. Linda Bilmes, and Dr. Syra Madad for a session exploring the economic costs of supported isolation during the pandemic for state…

Feb 17, 2021 @ 2:00 PM

Covid State of Play: Vaccines and Variants

Domestic and Global Problems

Join Dr. Margaret Bourdeaux, Professor Jonathan Zittrain and Dr. Vanessa Kerry as they discuss vaccine roll-out and the impact of new COVID strains from both a domestic and global…

Jan 13, 2021 @ 2:00 PM

Covid State of Play: 2021 Outlook and Vaccine Disinformation

Video & Podcast: Featuring Jonathan Zittrain, Margaret Bourdeaux, and Renée DiResta

Video & Podcast: Reflecting on 2020, the year ahead, and vaccine disinformation that has been proliferating online

Dec 16, 2020 @ 2:30 PM

Covid State of Play: Building a Public Sector Health Intelligence Capability

Video & Podcast: Investigating how public health officials can collect and utilize large amounts of data responsibly

Video & Podcast: Investigating how public health officials can collect and utilize vast sums of data responsibly

Dec 2, 2020 @ 2:00 PM

Covid State of Play: Covid, Racism, and Environmental Justice

Video & Podcast: How environmental injustice and racism have contributed to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic

Video & Podcast: How environmental injustice and racism have contributed to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic

Nov 12, 2020 @ 9:30 AM

Retrospective Contact Tracing: How States Can Investigate Covid-19 Clusters

Video & Podcast: A conversation with experts on how US states can implement retrospective contact tracing

Video & Podcast: A session exploring how US state and local public health leaders can implement retrospective contact tracing to identify Covid-19 clusters and mitigate their…

Oct 6, 2020 @ 2:00 PM

Covid State of Play: Authoritarian Politics & COVID-19

Video & Podcast: How Should U.S. public health officials lead in this political moment?

Video & Podcast: How Should U.S. public health officials lead in this political moment?

Jun 17, 2020 @ 11:00 AM

Contact Tracing and Technology: A Deep Dive

BKC co-hosts conversation on digital data and public health

BKC co-hosts conversation on digital data and public health