Erin M. Sorrell

Erin M. Sorrell, PhD, is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Sorrell’s work focuses on identifying elements required to support health systems strengthening and laboratory capacity building for disease detection, reporting, risk assessment, and response. She is also interested in operational and implementation research questions related to sustainable health systems strengthening, with an emphasis on the prevention, management, and control of infectious diseases in humanitarian situations, and particularly countries and regions affected by conflict.

In 2020, Sorrell became the director of the Elizabeth R. Griffin Program (ERGP). Through collaborative research, training, and education, ERGP promotes evidence-based biosafety and biosecurity practices to protect the health and safety of researchers as well as the workers on the front lines of disease detection around the world. Sorrell received a BS in animal science from Cornell University and an MSc and PhD from the University of Maryland, studying the molecular mechanisms of interspecies transmission of avian influenza A viruses. Erin was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Maryland and Erasmus Medical Center. Sorrell was an AAAS fellow, a Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Fellow and a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Governance

Course Correcting the U.S. Response to Bird Flu

Health security scientists wonder what delayed the U.S. response and offer advice on strategic improvements

Governance

Poultry Vaccine Hesitancy

When trade restrictions prevent effective public health interventions

Environment

Flu: When Spillovers Spill Over

The high risk of H5 influenza in North America this fall

Governance

Disarming Russia's Bioweapons Disinformation

Protecting Ukraine's laboratory infrastructure is crucial to prevent a health crisis

Environment

Revisiting the Origin Story of COVID-19

And why lab security in the age of COVID should be a priority

Governance

Laboratory Diagnostics—Rarely Appreciated Until Something Goes Wrong

Problems with COVID-19 testing highlights need for strong U.S. labs to detect, control, and respond to emerging diseases