Margaret Hamburg

Margaret Ann “Peggy” Hamburg, MD is an American physician and public health administrator.

She is married to Peter Fitzhugh Brown, an artificial intelligence expert, with whom she has two children.

Hamburg was born July 12, 1955.¹⁾ She is the daughter of Beatrix and David Hamburg, both physicians and early role models for her career in medicine. Her mother was the first African-American woman to attend Vassar College and to earn a degree from the Yale University School of Medicine (which had previously excluded black students). Her Jewish father and grandmother “taught her to value education and family and to fight discrimination and oppression.”

Hamburg earned her B.A. from Radcliffe College (prior to it becoming part of Harvard University) and her M.D. from Harvard Medical School at Harvard University, and she completed her medical residency at Weill Cornell Medical Center. She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and was inducted into the Institute of Medicine in 1994.

Early in her career, Hamburg conducted neuroscience and neuropharmacology research at the National Institute of Mental Health under the National Institutes of Health, and at Rockefeller University.²⁾

From 1986 to 1988, she served in the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the United States Department of Health and Human Services.³⁾ She also worked as a clinical instructor for Georgetown University School of Medicine from 1986-1990.⁴⁾

From May 1989 to May 1990, Hamburg served as the Assistant Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) under Dr. Anthony Fauci.⁵⁾ In this position, she participated in HIV/AIDS policy development and research.⁶⁾

Hamburg served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene from 1991-1997. Her accomplishments in that position include promoting needle-exchange programs to reduce the spread of HIV, initiating the first public health bioterrorism program in the nation, and creating a program to reduce the resurgence of tuberculosis, an effort that became a model for health departments worldwide.⁷⁾

During her term as health commissioner, she also held academic positions at Columbia University School of Public Health and Cornell University Medical College, both in New York City.⁸⁾

In 1993, Hamburg was President Bill Clinton's first choice for the newly-created post of federal AIDS coordinator. Pregnant with her first child at that time, Hamburg declined. In 1997, Clinton presented a second offer (which she accepted), naming Hamburg assistant secretary for planning and evaluation in the United States Department of Health and Human Services.⁹⁾

Hamburg was founding vice president and senior scientist at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) - a foundation created by Ted Turner to reduce the threat of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons - where she worked on reforms to reduce the dangers associated with modern bioterrorism and infectious diseases such as pandemic influenza.

She left the NTI in 2009 to accept the leadership position for the Food and Drug Administration, but returned years later as chair of the NTI | bio Advisory Group and the Interim Vice President of Global Biological Policy and Programs.¹⁰⁾

Hamburg is a member of the Medical Advisory Team for the Sidwell Friends School. She served on the board of trustees from 2004-2009.¹¹⁾

On July 13, 2005, Hamburg was announced as an advisor to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies by the Pew Charitable Trusts and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.¹²⁾

Hamburg served as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2009 - 2015 under President Barack Obama.¹³⁾

As FDA commissioner, she was known for advancing regulatory science, streamlining and modernizing the FDA’s regulatory pathways, globalization of the agency, and implementation of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act to reduce the death and disease caused by tobacco.

During Hamburg's tenure at the FDA, the agency was criticized for speeding approvals at the expense of safety, while some industry voices indicated the pace was “justified.” The FDA, under Hamburg's leadership approved 51 drugs in 2014 alone, which was noted as being “most in more than 20 years” to which Hamburg attributes to “innovative approaches.”¹⁴⁾

In April 2015, Hamburg was appointed Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Medicine, formerly the Institute of Medicine (IOM).¹⁵⁾

Hamburg participated on the Climate & Health Initiative Planning Committee, which “convened in 2020 to guide and inform the development of the strategic framework for the Grand Challenge on Climate Change, Human Health, and Equity.”¹⁶⁾

Hamburg served as president and chair of the board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from 2017-2019.¹⁷⁾

Hamburg joined the board of directors for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in 2018.¹⁸⁾

After leaving the FDA, Hamburg returned to the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Hamburg was a leading participant in the 2021 Monkeypox Tabletop Exercise led by the NTI.¹⁹⁾

Hamburg is a member of the board of trustees for the American Museum of Natural History.²⁰⁾

Hamburg is a member of the American Society of Microbiology.²¹⁾

Hamburg served on the board of directors for amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research.²²⁾

Hamburg is associated with the Aspen Institute.²³⁾

Hamburg is a member of the Global Health Scientific Advisory Committee for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.²⁴⁾

Hamburg is a commissioner on the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense.²⁵⁾

Hamburg is a member of the board of directors of the Broad Institute.²⁶⁾

Hamburg is a member of the Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.²⁷⁾

Hamburg formerly served on the Board of Scientific Counselors at the National Center for Infectious Diseases under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).²⁸⁾

Hamburg has been a member of the Intelligence Science Board at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).^{29) 30) 31)}

Hamburg is affiliated with the Century Foundation.³²⁾

Hamburg is Chair of the Joint Coordination Group for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).³³⁾

Hamburg was elected to the board of directors of the Commonwealth Fund in 2015.³⁴⁾

Hamburg formerly served on the board of directors of Conservation International.³⁵⁾

Hamburg is a member of the board of directors for the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).³⁶⁾

In 2020, Hamburg was appointed by the CFR to serve on its Independent Task Force on Improving Pandemic Preparedness.³⁷⁾

Hamburg is a member of the National Advisory Council for the COVID Collaborative.³⁸⁾

Hamburg was formerly a member of the board of directors of Doctors of the World.³⁹⁾

Hamburg is chair of the advisory board for the Center of Regulatory Excellence (CoRE) at Duke-NUS Medical School.⁴⁰⁾

Hamburg is an advisor to Ending Pandemics.⁴¹⁾

Hamburg is a member of the board of directors for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.⁴²⁾

Hamburg is a member of the Harvard University Global Advisory Council, and a member of the board of fellows for Harvard Medical School.^{43) 44)}

Hamburg formerly served as a member of the board of directors for Henry Schein.⁴⁵⁾

Hamburg is co-chair of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP).⁴⁶⁾

Hamburg was appointed to the board of directors of the Lasker Foundation in 2020.⁴⁷⁾

Hamburg was a member of the Markle Foundation's Task Force on National Security in the Information Age.⁴⁸⁾

Hamburg is a member of the external advisory board of the MRCT Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard.⁴⁹⁾

Hamburg served as a member on the board of directors of the Nathan Cummings Foundation.⁵⁰⁾

Hamburg is board member for the Nature Conservancy.⁵¹⁾

Hamburg is a board member of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.⁵²⁾

Hamburg is affiliated with the Primary Care Development Corporation.⁵³⁾

Hamburg is a director of Resolve to Save Lives.⁵⁴⁾

Hamburg formerly served as a member of the board of directors of the Rockefeller Foundation.⁵⁵⁾

In 2005, Hamburg was elected to the board of directors of Rockefeller University.⁵⁶⁾

Hamburg is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative.⁵⁷⁾

Hamburg was a member of the board of directors for Trust for America's Health.⁵⁸⁾

Hamburg is a member of the External Advisory Board for the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington.⁵⁹⁾

Hamburg is a member of the board of directors for the Urban Institute.⁶⁰⁾

Hamburg is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board on Vaccines and Drug-resistant Infections for Wellcome Trust.⁶¹⁾

Hamburg is a member of the board for the World Dementia Council.⁶²⁾

Hamburg is associated with the World Economic Forum, including having participated as a speaker on the topic of synthetic biology.^{63) 64)}

Hamburg is Co-chair of the World Health Organization's Expert Advisory Committee on Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing.⁶⁵⁾

Other participants on the committee include Jamie Metzl and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Hamburg is also affiliated with the Century Foundation, Forward Together, and the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.⁶⁶⁾

In June 2001, Hamburg participated in the Operation Dark Winter exercise at Andrews Air Force Base simulating a bioterrorism event involving weaponized smallpox.⁶⁷⁾

Hamburg also participated in the Clade X pandemic exercise, officially held to practice for the need to “counter a fast-moving and deadly epidemic released on purpose by a terrorist group consisting of scientists and their rich backers wanting to reduce overpopulation.”^{68) 69)}

On October 19, 2020, Hamburg participated in the CSIS-LSHTM High-Level Panel on Vaccine Confidence and Misinformation event held jointly by the Center for Strategic & International Studies and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.⁷⁰⁾

She went on to participate in a tabletop exercise at the 2021 Munich Security Conference modelling a fictional international outbreak of monkeypox.⁷¹⁾ The exercise was led by the Nuclear Threat Initiative and funded by Open Philanthropy.⁷²⁾ In the exercise scenario, the hypothetical outbreak was set to begin on May 15, 2022. On May 18, 2022, a real confirmed case of monkeypox was reported in an American traveller who had recently travelled to Canada.⁷³⁾

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