Thursday, November 6, 2025 | 2:00 PM to 5:45 PM ET

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
615 N Wolfe St.
Baltimore, MD 21205

Contact Information: Rachel Colligan | Rachel.Colligan@aei.org

Please click here to RSVP to the event.

Event Description

As we move beyond the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to thoughtfully examine the health outcomes and policy decisions that shaped our collective response to the crisis. Structured around Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee’s In COVID’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, this flagship event will feature a fireside chat with the authors and panel discussions examining how scientific evidence, policy implementation, and public communication intersected during the pandemic. These conversations aim to build mutual understanding among leading public health, science, and policy experts and identify lessons that can strengthen our response to future challenges.

This event is part of a broader collaboration between Johns Hopkins University faculty and American Enterprise Institute scholars.

Agenda

1:45 p.m.
Registration Opens

2:00 p.m.
Opening Remarks:
Ronald J. Daniels, President, Johns Hopkins University
Robert Doar, President, American Enterprise Institute
M. Anthony Mills, Director, Center for Technology, Science, and Energy, American Enterprise Institute
Judd L. Walson, Robert E. Black Chair in International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

2:30 p.m.
Panel I: Fireside Chat with Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee

Panelists:
Frances Lee, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs, Princeton University
Stephen Macedo, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics, University Center for Human Values, Princeton University

Moderator:
Yuval Levin, Director, Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies, American Enterprise Institute

3:00 p.m.
Q&A

3:15 p.m.
Break

3:30 p.m.
Panel II: The Science-Policy Interface

Panelists:
John Hellerstedt, Former Commissioner, Texas Department of State Health Services
Nancy E. Kass, Deputy Director for Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Berman Institute of Bioethics
Roger Pielke Jr., Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Emily E. Ricotta, Assistant Professor, Uniformed Services University

Moderator:
Lisa Margonelli, Senior Editor, Issues in Science and Technology

4:15 p.m.
Q&A

4:30 p.m.
Panel III: Governance and Decision-Making Frameworks

Panelists:
Mahmud Farooque, Associate Director, Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, Arizona State University
Amita Gupta, Director, Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Steven Teles, Professor, Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts & Sciences

Moderator:
William Howell, Dean, Johns Hopkins University School of Government & Policy

5:15 p.m.
Q&A

5:30 p.m.
Adjournment

5:45 p.m.
Reception

Related Content

The Quiet Collapse of America’s Pandemic Preparedness
Anemone Franz and Britt Lampert | The Hill | August 27, 2025

We Still Haven’t Reckoned with COVID’s Costs
M. Anthony Mills | National Review | March 27, 2025

In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us
Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee | Princeton University Press | March 11, 2025