Syra Madad

Syra Madad (née Sikandar; born October 22, 1986)[1] is an American pathogen preparedness expert and infectious disease epidemiologist. Madad is the Senior Director of the System-wide Special Pathogens Program at NYC Health + Hospitals[2] where she is part of the executive leadership team which oversees New York City's response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the city's 11 public hospitals.[3][4] She was featured in the Netflix documentary series Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak.[5]

Syra Madad
Born
Syra Sikandar

(1986-10-22) October 22, 1986
NationalityAmerican
Other namesS.S. Madad
Alma materUniversity of Maryland, College Park
Nova Southeastern University
OccupationPathogen preparedness expert and epidemiologist
Years active2014-present
EmployerNYC Health + Hospitals
Known forPandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak
Websitescty.org/syra

Early life and education

Madad was born in the United States. Her family is of Pakistani background.[6]

In 2008, Madad received a B.S in Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2010, she received a Master's degree in Biotechnology with a concentration in Biodefense and Biosecurity, also from the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2014, Madad received an DHSc degree in health science with a concentration in Global Health from Nova Southeastern University.

Career

In 2014, Madad was Lead Continuity of Operations Liaison and State Trainer for the BioThreat and Chemical Threat Teams in the Emergency Preparedness Branch at the Texas Department of State Health Services. In this position she worked in the Ebola and Other Infectious Disease Agent Surge Team in response to a 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak.

During this time, Madad volunteered at the Texas State Medical Operations Center as a Planning and Intelligence Specialist. She also volunteered as Logistics Specialist and Trauma Medical Responder at Sector 7 of the Texas Emergency Medical Task Force.

In 2015, Madad was hired as Senior Director of the System-wide Special Pathogens Program at NYC Health + Hospitals which oversees 11 public hospitals in the largest municipal healthcare system in the United States.[2]

Madad is responsible for preparing New York City's municipal hospitals against infection disease outbreaks.[7] Part of her role is to run simulations of outbreaks to prepare staff. In these simulations, healthcare workers care for mock patients and practice cutting-edge treatment protocols in a simulated high-risk environment in which the must act quickly.[8] They also practice use of personal protective equipment to ensure they can wear masks, gown, suits, and gloves appropriately if and when the time comes.[7] During her tenure, she has overseen responses to Ebola virus disease, Zika fever, and Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Since 2019, Madad has held the position of Principal Investigator of the Institute for Diseases and Disaster Management at NYC Health + Hospitals.[9]

In December 2019, she co-authored an op-ed with Joe Biden advisor Ron Klain, which warned against allowing an outbreak preparedness program to expire in May 2020.[10] The program, which was funded in 2015 in response to the Ebola epidemic, equips healthcare facilities and trains frontline medical workers to confront outbreaks of infectious diseases.[11] The funding enabled New York City and other health systems to run more drills, exercises, and collaborative public health protocols. Madad and Klain advocated for Congress to ensure the full network of healthcare institutions remains funded to protect against future outbreaks.[10] Their warning came just months before COVID-19 reached the United States.

As the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding, Madad emphasized the need to monitor the situation and the available research around the pandemic's trajectory and effective approaches to mitigation.[12] As COVID-19 made its way to New York City, Madad oversaw trainings and simulations to prepare healthcare workers for the coming demands that would be placed on the healthcare system.[11] She accelerated training, ensuring protocols were incorporating the latest procedures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health officials.[7] She also instituted respiratory stations at the entrance of hospitals, which ask incoming patients if they have a fever, cough, or rash to take a mask and sanitize their hands immediately.[11] She provides ongoing support in infectious disease emergency management, and infection prevention and control.

Madad is an Emerging Leader in Biosecurity Fellow at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Health Security, previously Senior Fellow in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Behavioral Informatics & Technological Enterprise Studies Program. Madad is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow of the Federation of American Scientists and part of their COVID-19 Expert Taskforce. From 2009 to the present, Madad has taught at the University of Maryland, College Park's Graduate Program for Biotechnology and Biodefense as an assistant professor.

Madad is on the faculty of the United States Department of Health and Human Services's National Emerging Special Pathogen Training and Education Center's (NETEC), formerly called National Ebola Training and Education Center, funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Public appearances

On January 24, 2020, Netflix released the documentary series Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak, which followed Madad in her role at the Special Pathogens Program working to prevent an outbreak from occurring and prepare healthcare workers in the event that one does.[13] The film portrays her working to secure funding to prepare personnel in the event of an outbreak.[14] The series was filmed in 2019 and was based on the premise that the world is due for another deadly pandemic.[15] Filming preceded the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which did not reach Madad's jurisdiction in New York City until March 2020.[11]

Since the release of the series and the emergence of New York City as the worst hit locality of the COVID-19 pandemic, Madad has discussed the outbreak and pandemic preparedness on outlets, such as CNN,[16] Fox News,[17] Good Morning America,[18] and MSNBC.[19] She has also worked to combat misinformation, educating the public on appropriate safety measures and helping them understand what information is actually reliable.[7][20]

Honors and fellowships

Personal life

Madad is married to Ali Madad, a graphic designer and creative director. They have three children and live in Long Island.[25] She is a practicing Muslim.[26]

Selected works and publications

References
  1. Ali Madad [@amadad] (22 Oct 2017). "Birthday festivities with @syramadad" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. "Center for Global Healthcare Preparedness for Special Pathogens". NYC Health and Hospitals, Center for Global Healthcare Special Pathogens Preparedness. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  3. Lehrer, Brian (29 January 2020). "What to Know About the Coronavirus". The Brian Lehrer Show, WNYC.
  4. "Pandemic's Dr. Syra Madad Debunks Coronavirus Myths and Offers Tips for Protecting Yourself". People. 24 March 2020.
  5. Ifeanyi, K. C. (29 January 2020). "With the coronavirus outbreak, the Netflix docuseries 'Pandemic' is required viewing". Fast Company.
  6. "Meet the Pakistani Doctor Who Predicted the Rise of Coronavirus [Video]". Lens. 26 March 2020.
  7. Frias, Lauren (7 March 2020). "On the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak: An expert in infectious disease preparedness describes how she readies healthcare workers". Business Insider.
  8. Parnell, Wesley; Dillon, Nancy (25 January 2020). "New York 'ready' to snuff coronavirus when it lands thanks to training, technology and 'secret shoppers'". New York Daily News.
  9. "Center for Global Healthcare Preparedness for Special Pathogens – The Team". NYC Health and Hospitals, Center for Global Healthcare Special Pathogens Preparedness. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  10. Klain, Ronald A.; Madad, Syra (27 December 2019). "Opinion: A program protecting us from deadly pandemic is about to expire". The Washington Post.
  11. Walsh, James D. (14 February 2020). "Just Asking Questions: Is NYC Prepared for Coronavirus?". Intelligencer, New York Magazine.
  12. Bursztynsky, Jessica (31 January 2020). "'China is doing a great job' on coronavirus, says pathogens specialist at largest US public health-care system". CNBC.
  13. Schrader, Adam (24 January 2020). "Netflix releases 'Pandemic' docuseries as coronavirus spreads". New York Post.
  14. Hamed, Amani Marie (10 April 2020). "Surviving: A Four-Film Guide to Outlasting Quarantine and Changing the Post-Corona World". Bright Lights Film Journal.
  15. Delaney, Brigid (5 February 2020). "Pandemic: Netflix's new series about global outbreaks is eerily timed, and moved me to tears". The Guardian.
  16. Whitfield, Fredricka; Culver, David (1 February 2020). "Researchers Estimate 75000+ People In Wuhan, China May Be Infected With Coronavirus; U.S. Imposes Travel Restrictions Over Coronavirus; Senate Poised To Acquit Trump After Vote For Witnesses Fails". CNN.
  17. London, Matt (2 March 2020). "Coronavirus fears overhyped? Expert panel puts outbreak in perspective". Fox News.
  18. "Cleanliness in the workplace amid coronavirus emergency". Good Morning America. 3 March 2020.
  19. "Pathogen expert calls coronavirus the 'disease X of the century'". CNBC. 2 March 2020.
  20. Tang, Abby; Yan, Michelle; Appolonia, Alexandra (3 April 2020). "Pathologists debunk 13 myths about the coronavirus, including why masks won't help". Business Insider.
  21. "Alpha Eta Membership List" (PDF). Nova Southeastern University. 2014.
  22. Alexopulos, Nick. "Class of 2017 from the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Fellowship". Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  23. Alexopulos, Nick (2017). "Class of 2017 from the Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Fellowship". Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
  24. "Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative: Class of 2017 Yearbook" (PDF). Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. 2017. p. 26.
  25. "Brooklyn woman, nationally recognized leader in public health stars in Netflix docuseries". News 12 Brooklyn. 10 March 2020.
  26. Aslan, Rose S. (16 March 2020). "What Islamic hygienic practices can teach when coronavirus is spreading". The Conversation.
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