Next time, we will be ready.

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It's hard to overstate the impact that COVID-19 has had on the world. More than three million people are dead. In the United States, the impacts and loss of life were felt disproportionately in Black, brown, and Indigenous communities.  Job losses or reduced working hours due to the impact of the pandemic cost the world the equivalent of 255 million jobs in 2020, nearly four times the number lost during the 2009 global financial crisis. 

It’s a pandemic that changed life as we know it—and its effects will likely be felt for generations.

Undoubtedly, the U.S. and the world will face future infections with pandemic potential. While COVID-19 was a once-in-a-generation pandemic, there have also been a number of other high profile diseases and infections that have emerged over the past 20 years, including: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Swine Flu, MERS, Zika, and the Ebola virus. These diseases together have contributed to over $100 billion in economic losses.

8

pandemics since 1900.

$100 Billion

in economic losses

Imagine a world where scientists and medical providers have the tools to prepare for the next outbreak before it happens. Imagine a stockpile of rapidly deployable solutions to respond to pandemic threats the moment there's an outbreak to forestall loss of life and economic upheaval. Imagine an alignment of society, policy, and innovation so that we can make the big ideas of now the bold solutions of tomorrow. Imagine a deep and wide partnership between government, private industry, academia, and the community to finally get in front of global outbreaks with an integrated approach.

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What is urgently needed is one cross-sector entity with the scale, resources, and talent to ensure the initiatives of all pandemic prevention stakeholders are coordinated to deliver maximum impact. Additionally, we need one body that can help accelerate the production and stockpiling of life-saving therapeutics and diagnostics, while improving surveillance and monitoring capabilities to help prevent and contain future outbreaks.

With a keen understanding of the challenges hampering current preparedness efforts, Connected DMV has a vision to create the world’s only comprehensive center to coordinate a global pandemic prevention and response program. Called the Global Pandemic Prevention & Biodefense Center, this Center aims to harness all of the rich talent and critical health research, biotech, defense, and government assets that the world has to offer to deliver a full-scale response. The National Capital Region is uniquely positioned to be the host location for this herculean task because it is home to:

70

federal  labs

800

life sciences companies

government agencies: FDA, NIH/NIAID, ASPR/BARDA, DARPA

seat of policy & political power

175

worldwide embassies & diplomatic missions

The flagship lead initiative of the Center will be AHEAD100. This ambitious, medical countermeasures program aims to develop and stockpile monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for the world's top 100 pathogens across 25 pathogen families most likely to cause pandemics. The availability of this stockpile fills the critical time gap between outbreaks and activated vaccines during which a pandemic can be wholly avoided.

AHEAD100

Latest News

The Center At a Glance

Establishing the Center and preparing antibody solutions through Phase 1 trials will cost $2.5 billion and enable society to be weeks from a solution when an outbreak occurs saving countless lives and evading massive economic and societal disruption.

Steering Committee

Dr. James Crowe, Founder & Chief Scientist, AHEAD100  |   Stu Solomon, Co-Lead  |  Rich Bendis, Co-Lead 

NON-PROFITS

Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

Phyllis Arthur

Brigadier Gen. (ret.)
White House Physician Emeritus
​

Dr. Richard Tubb

CEPI
​

Dr. Nick Jackson

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
​

Dr. Jenni Weisman

Battelle National Biodefense Institute ​

Dr. George Korch

US Pharmacopeia
​

Anthony Lakavage, JD

Virginia Bio​
 

John Newby

Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense
​

Dr. Asha George

Former ASD for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense​

​

Hon. Andy Weber

World Health Organization (WHO)
​

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan

​

(ex-officio)

Sachiko Kuno Foundation
​

Dr. Sachiko Kuno

BioHealth Innovation
​

Rich Bendis

Maryland Tech Council
​

Marty Rosendale

Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation​
 

Benjamin Wu

Wellcome Leap
​
Dr. Duccio Medini

Connected DMV
​

Stu Solomon

ACADEMIA

University System of Maryland
 

Dr. Jay Perman

Vanderbilt University Medical Center
 

Dr. Jeff Balser

Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area
​

Dr. Andrew Flagel

Founder & Chief Scientist, AHEAD100
​

Dr. James Crowe

Boston University

Dr. Nahid Bhadelia

GOVERNMENT

NIH/NIAID/VRC
​

Dr. John Mascola

(ex-officio)

NIH/NIAID/MID
​

Dr. Cristina Cassetti

​

(ex-officio)

NIH/NCATS

​

Dr. Michael Kurilla

​

(ex-officio)

USAMRDC/
USAMRIID​

Future

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
 

Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad

(ex-officio)

State of Maryland
 

Secretary Kelly Schulz

Montgomery County​

​

Hon. Marc Elrich

HHS/ASPR/BARDA

​

Dr. Kimberly Armstrong

​

(ex-officio)

HHS/ASPR/BARDA

​

Dr. Christopher Houchens

​

(ex-officio)

JPEO-CBRND

Future

FDA

Future

CDC

Future

USAID

Future

INDUSTRY

eMed
​

Dr. Patrice Harris

(Prior AMA Chair)

Pinkston​

​

Jim Traficant

Moderna
​

Dr. Obadiah Plante

AstraZeneca

Dr. Mark Esser

Regeneron

Dr. Christos Kyratsous

Emergent BioSolutions

​

Dr. Laura Saward

GSK​

​

Dr. Rebecca Farkas

Becton Dickinson​

​

Dave Hickey

DLA Piper

Hon. Jim Greenwood

Founder, BeatTheReaper
​

Dr. Steve Projan

Twist Bioscience​

​

Dr. Emily Leproust

Berkeley Lights​

​

Dr. Keith Breinlinger

Kaiser Permanente
​

Ruth Williams-Brinkley

Various Biotech Companies

​

Ken Kelley