March 17th Speaker Biographies

Dr. Unruh serves as the Director of Education and Training at the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health. She has previously worked as an epidemiologist and infection preventionist at PeaceHealth hospital and volunteered as a firefighter with Lane Fire Authority in Eugene, Oregon. She completed her medical degree at Oregon Health and Science University, followed by residency in emergency medicine from Cook County Health in Chicago, Illinois. During her residency, she was competitively elected to serve as chief resident. Dr. Unruh also completed a fellowship in Disaster and Operational Medicine at George Washington University. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in honors biology from the University of Oregon and a Master in Public Health in epidemiology from Columbia University. 

Dr. Jeffrey D. Freeman serves as the Director and Special Assistant to the President for the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health (NCDMPH). As Director, Dr. Freeman leads the National Joint Research and Education Program in Disaster Medicine for all executive departments and directs a nation-wide ecosystem comprised of leading medical and public health research institutions. Established in 2008 under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21 (HSPD-21), NCDMPH is both a federal organization and component of the Uniformed Services University (USU). The National Center is governed by an interagency Board of Advisors from the Departments of Defense (DoD), State (DoS), Health and Human Services (HHS), Homeland Security (DHS), Transportation (DoT), and Veterans Affairs (VA). The mission of the National Center is to advance the Nation’s medical and public health readiness for disasters.

Dr. Freeman comes to the National Center from MIT Lincoln Laboratory where he worked in the Biotechnology and Human Systems Division Office. Prior to MIT, Dr. Freeman was a part of the senior leadership team in the National Health Mission of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) where he established the Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Program, and created the Johns Hopkins Disaster Response Corps, which mobilizes scientists and technology in support of the Nation’s response to disasters. While at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Freeman was selected as an Emerging Leader in Biosecurity Fellow by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Before coming to Johns Hopkins to pursue his doctoral studies, he worked in the Emergency Response and Recovery Branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta and was involved in the creation of the Center for Humanitarian Emergencies at Emory University. 

Throughout his career, Dr. Freeman has led hundreds of scientists in support of responses to pandemics including COVID-19, Mpox, and Ebola, as well as responses to violent conflicts, natural disasters, and other health emergencies. In March 2020, at the request of senior government officials, Dr. Freeman mobilized a team of several hundred scientists in support of the Federal COVID-19 Response. Over the next several years, he would lead more than 400 technical staff supporting work across the federal response, to include efforts related to authoritative COVID-19 data, senior leader decision-making, public health and medical operations, medical supply chain, testing and diagnostics, and medical countermeasures development and distribution. Many of these efforts have been transitioned to follow-on tasks aimed at advancing government capabilities for future health threats. 

Dr. Freeman’s formal education includes advanced training and education in health, engineering, and business, including a Bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University, a Master of Public Health degree in Global Health and Infectious Diseases from Emory University, and a PhD in Environmental Health and Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He has specialized training in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies, Biomedical Informatics, Risk Sciences, and Public Policy. In addition to his duties as NCDMPH Director, Dr. Freeman is jointly appointed as an Associate Professor in the Military and Emergency Medicine Department at the Uniformed Services University where his primary research interests include advanced training for complex environments and human performance under duress.

Dr. Jonathan Woodson is the seventh President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). As such, he is responsible for the academic, research and leadership mission of the university, which includes a combined total of more than 2,500 students in the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine and its associated graduate programs in the biomedical sciences and public health, the Daniel K. Inouye Graduate School of Nursing, the university’s Postgraduate Dental College, and the College of Allied Health Sciences. Through its graduate and undergraduate programs, the University has more than 11,500 alumni, many of whom serve the nation as uniformed health providers or civilian scientists. Dr. Woodson also oversees more than 15 research centers and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI). 

Prior to his current position, Dr. Woodson was a Lars Anderson Professor in Management and Professor of the Practice at Boston University’s (BU) Questrom School of Business. He holds joint appointments as professor of Surgery at the School of Medicine and professor of Health Law, Policy and Management at the School of Public Health. He established and led the BU university-wide Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy. 

From 2010-2016, Dr. Woodson was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and Director of the Tricare Management Activity in the United States Department of Defense (DoD). He was the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense for all health and force health protection-related issues and ensured the effective execution of the DoD medical mission. He exercised authority, direction and control over the Defense Health Agency, USU, AFRRI, Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, and the Tricare Health Plan serving 9.5 million beneficiaries. 

Before his appointment to the DoD by President Obama in 2010, Dr. Woodson was a professor of Surgery and Associate Dean for Students, Diversity, and Multicultural Affairs and senior attending vascular surgeon at Boston Medical Center. In 2016, he was appointed as a member of the USU Board of Regents and later served as its chair. Dr. Woodson retired at the rank of Major General, United States Army Reserve, and as Commander of the United States Army Reserve Medical Command, Pinellas Park, Florida in June 2022 after 36 years of service. His military deployments include Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm, Kosovo, and Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is a former senior medical officer with the National Disaster Management System, through which he responded to the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center. 

Dr. Woodson is a graduate of the City College of New York and the New York University School of Medicine. He received his postgraduate medical education at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and completed residency training in internal medicine, as well as general and vascular surgery. He is board-certified in internal medicine, general surgery, vascular surgery, and critical care surgery. He also holds a master’s degree in strategic studies (concentration in strategic leadership) from the United States Army War College. In 1992, he was awarded a research fellowship at the Association of American Medical Colleges Health Services Research Institute.

Herbert Wolfe is the Department’s Acting Chief Medical Officer and the Acting Director of the Office of Health Security (OHS), overseeing all medical, public health and workforce health and safety activities with responsibilities for border health security, food, agriculture and health resilience, total workforce protection, health informatics, regional medical operations and FSLTT health engagement.

Dr. Wolfe joined DHS in September 2019 following a distinguished career in government service. Highlights include serving as Director for Medical and Public Health Preparedness Policy at the White House National Security Council and Chief Audit Executive for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration. Before joining VHA, Dr. Wolfe was Senior Adviser to the Director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, responsible for ensuring the agency fulfilled its mission of using the best science in public health to prevent and mitigate harmful exposures and diseases related to toxic substances. In this role he was the senior CDC official deployed to Flint, Michigan, to lead the agency’s response to the drinking water public health emergency. Prior to his tenure at Health and Human Services, Dr. Wolfe served as a Technical Intelligence Officer at the Central Intelligence Agency and as the Director for Combating WMD and Contingency Operations at the United States Navy Office of the Surgeon General.

From 1998 to 2002, Dr. Wolfe was a physician assistant in the U.S. Public Health Service, completing his family medicine fellowship at the Claremore Indian Hospital in Claremore, Oklahoma. His tours of duty included clinical assignments with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the United States Navy. He also deployed with the U.S. Public Health Service to NYC Ground Zero in the days following 9/11, providing medical care to first responders. He holds a PhD in biodefense and is considered an expert in health security, public health emergency management and homeland defense operations. Dr. Wolfe was promoted to the Senior Executive Service in 2017 and began his federal career with the United States Department of Agriculture in 1993.

Prof. Dr. med. Thomas Wurmb was born in Heidelberg, Germany in 1969. After completing his medical school at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany in 1997, he began his medical career at the University Hospital Würzburg, Germany at the Department of Aneasthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency- and Pain Medicine. Since 2015, he is Professor of Emergency and Disaster Medicine at the University Hospital Würzburg and has chaired the associated emergency and disaster medicine department since then. He is a specialist in anaesthesiology, emergency- and intensive care medicine. The main topics of his expertise are the response to mass casualties and terrorist attacks, the contigency planning for hospitals and civil-military cooperation. Since 2017 Professor Wurmb is NATO Civil Expert at the Joint Health Group.

Biographical sketch pending

Denis FitzGerald, MD is a Board-certified Emergency Physician and EMS Medical Director who currently serves as Deputy Director for Response within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Working with a dedicated team of professionals, Dr. FitzGerald oversees a group of high-yield programs focusing on support to the Department in important areas such as regional and Federal partner engagement, disaster response, response logistics, disaster recovery operations, weapons of mass destruction subject matter expertise, international operations, and tactical medical support for Federal law enforcement.

Since 2008, Dr. FitzGerald has served in HHS in a variety of roles. In each role, he has provided medical support to Federal law enforcement teams to include training, operations, outreach and medical oversight for law enforcement EMS programs. In furtherance of this work, he helped to establish the Center for Tactical Medicine. Additionally, he has helped to set medical standards and provide guidance for the delivery of clinical care to victims of large-scale disasters and terrorist incidents.

From 2004-2008, Dr. FitzGerald served as Chief Medical Officer for the Protective Medicine Branch within the Federal Protective Service, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Department of Homeland Security. In that capacity, he provided oversight and medical support for the EMS programs of several Federal law enforcement agencies. As a certified Federal Officer, he also maintained skills and training in law enforcement operations. Prior to his time in Federal service, Dr. FitzGerald served in a full-time clinical capacity as Assistant Professor and Staff Physician at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center Emergency Department (ED). The ED is part of a Level 1 Trauma Center that cares for approximately 100,000 patients annually. During his time there, Dr. FitzGerald maintained a focus in EMS and the public safety community, including serving as a local Police Officer and Medical Director for the regional Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team.

Justin Griffin comes from St. Louis, MO and started his CT career serving as a combat engineer in the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division for seven years. Justin deployed multiple times to fight in Afghanistan’s RC East and RC South before being medevac’d to Walter Reed in Bethesda, Maryland. During Justin’s three-year recovery at Walter Reed he sought to fill time between surgeries and physical therapy by starting a two year internship through ODNI’s Wounded Warrior Intern Program where he worked on ODNI’s Information Sharing initiatives.

After Justin was medically retired from the Army, he began working at ODNI/NCTC and has been with the organization for over 12 years. Justin has served as a biometrics officer, a targeting officer, a DI analyst, an operations officer, the Director’s Daily Intelligence Briefer, and an operations training and outreach officer, before taking on his most recent assignment as the NCTC regional representative to the national capital region (DC, MD, VA, WV). Justin also previously worked in business development while in the private sector defense contractor world.

Paul Brannigan is the Associate Director for Operations Veterans Health Administration Office of Emergency Management. Mr. Brannigan is responsible for the leadership, management, and program oversight of VHA OEM personnel and assets that ensure continuity of patient care for our Veterans and the Nation during times of disasters or military contingencies. He supervises 51 Regional and Area Emergency Managers distributed across the country. He collaborates with leaders at all levels of federal, state, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments to promote readiness and efficiency of response. Paul provides SME guidance on VHA’s role in the National Disaster Medical System, particularly as regards federal patient movement, VHA Medical Emergency Radiological Response Team (MERRT), and serves as the Operations lead in VHA’s Emergency Management Coordination Cell. He is an accomplished speaker on emergency response and planning issues and is a member of numerous federal agency-level working groups. He has moved up through the ranks, serving as an Area Emergency Manager (Atlanta), where he led the first-ever response of a Federal Coordinating Center (FCC) following Hurricane Katrina, and most recently as a Regional Emergency Manager, notably leading the VHA response for Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Mr. Brannigan has served as a Captain in the US Army, as an Environmental Scientist in the private sector, and as Operations for the Florida Division of Emergency Management, responsible for the Florida State Emergency Operations Center. He has extensive training and federal certifications in emergency management and related healthcare operations. He is a Continuity of Operations practitioner, Incident Command System trainer, and certified instructor by the State of Florida and the US Army.

Dr Matthieu Langlois is CEO of HotZone Rescue Consulting, Crisis Manager, MD Tactical & Disaster Medicine Physician and Assistant General Secretary of the French Disaster Medicine Association 

Dr. Paul Biddinger is the Chief Preparedness and Continuity Officer at Mass General Brigham (MGB) and the Chief of the Division of Emergency Preparedness in the Department of Emergency Medicine at MGB. He holds the Ann L. Prestipino MPH Endowed Chair in Emergency Preparedness and is also the Director of the Center for Disaster Medicine at MGB. Dr. Biddinger additionally serves as the Director of the Emergency Preparedness Research, Evaluation and Practice (EPREP) Program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and at the Chan School. Dr. Biddinger serves as a medical officer for the MA-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) in the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) in the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Dr. Biddinger is an active researcher in the field of emergency preparedness and has lectured nationally and internationally on topics of preparedness and disaster medicine. He has authored numerous articles and book chapters on multiple topics related to disaster medicine and emergency medical operations and has responded to numerous prior disaster events, including Hurricane Katrina, Superstorm Sandy, the Boston Marathon bombings, the Nepal earthquakes, and many others. He completed his undergraduate study in international relations at Princeton University, attended medical school at Vanderbilt University, and completed residency training in emergency medicine at Harvard.

Dr. Atyia Martin is the CEO and Founder of All Aces, Inc., an alternative to traditional diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firms. She is also the Executive Director of the nonprofit, Next Leadership Development, supporting resilience for Black leaders and communities through resources, education, and relationships. She is published in scholarly journals, books, reports, and is the author of We Are the Question and the Answer. Additionally, she is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Northeastern University's Global Resilience Institute. 

Dr. Martin was the first Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Boston as part of 100 Resilient Cities.She led the development and implementation of Boston's initial resilience strategy which was the first one in the 100 Resilient Cities network to make racial equity, social justice, and social cohesion the foundation of building resilience across the city. She engaged over 12,000 people across government, community, businesses, and nonprofits to develop Resilient Boston: An Equitable, Connected City. Smart Cities magazine selected Resilient Boston as the best resilience strategy of 2017 and the Center for American Progress featured it in its report A Framework for Local Action on Climate Change.

Prior to her role as Chief Resilience Officer, she was the director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness at the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC). In this role, she was responsible for coordinating public health, healthcare, and community health emergency management, including oversight of the Stephen M. Lawlor Medical Intelligence Center to coordinate response and recovery efforts; and education and training through the DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness. Dr. Martin led the public health and healthcare response to the Boston Marathon bombings, the winter snow storms of 2015, trolley crashes, train crashes, the Long Island bridge closure and evacuation, and dozens of smaller-scale emergencies.

Her previous professional experience includes adjunct faculty in the Master of Homeland Security and Public Policy programs at Northeastern University; the Boston Police Department’s Boston Regional Intelligence Center; City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management; the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI); active duty Air Force assigned to the National Security Agency as a Serbian/Croatian linguist and analyst; and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC).

Dr. Martin is is an experienced emergency manager, climate resilience expert, and organizational justice practitioner with an Inclusive Workplace Culture Specialty Credential from the Society for Human Resource Management, an Associate of Arts in Serbian Croatian from the Defense Language Institute (DLI), Bachelor of Science from Excelsior College, a Master of Homeland Security Leadership from the University of Connecticut, and a Doctorate of Law and Policy from Northeastern University. Dr. Martin and her husband were born and raised in Boston where they currently live. They have five children (two still at home) and five grandchildren.

Mr. Gill began working for Boston EMS as an EMT in 1986. Advancing in EMS, John was promoted to Paramedic in 1991 and then to the rank of Deputy Superintendent. In the role of Deputy Superintendent, John was assigned to the night shift as Shift Commander for over a decade. Most recently, he worked on special project initiatives to include a multi-million dollar radio project to improve the service’s radio infrastructure.

In December 2020, John was named Superintendent in Chief, the department's second in command. In this role, John oversees the combined responsibilities and resources of all Boston EMS Divisions and has the authority to serve as acting Chief of Department in the Chief's absence.

COL (Dr.) Ricky Kue is the Brigade Surgeon for the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont Army National Guard.  COL Kue has served in the military for 23 years and completed multiple overseas combat deployments.  His military awards include two Meritorious Service Medals, two Army Commendations, the Army Flight Surgeon Badge, Army Mountain Warfare School Ram’s Head Device and the AMEDD Surgeon General’s “9A” designation.  He is currently active with other Department of Defense stakeholders on mass casualty response best practices. 

Outside of his military career, COL Kue continues practicing emergency medicine at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, MA.  He is Deputy Medical Officer for the FEMA Urban Search and Rescue (ESF-9) Red Incident Support Team and Medical Team Manager with the Massachusetts US&R Task Force-1.  COL Kue was previously the Associate Medical Director for Boston EMS, Police and Fire Departments from 2009-2019, serving as the EMS Medical Officer assigned to the Alpha Tent during the 2013 Boston Marathon.  He is board-certified in both Emergency Medicine and EMS Medicine, having completed his emergency medicine residency and EMS/disaster medicine fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.  COL Kue earned his Doctorate of Medicine from the State University of New York in Syracuse, Masters in Public Health degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Masters of Art in National Security and Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College. 

Dr. Hulme has been a consultant in Emergency Medicine at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital since 2016. His interests include trauma, point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS), education, and tropical medicine. Dr. Hulme holds a Master of Science (MSc) in Medical Ultrasound from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine in London, England. He is also a POCUS Subcommittee member, the Associate Academic Lead for Year 3 Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) at the University of Manchester Medical School, and Developer of the Major Incident App.

Melissa Harvey is the Assistant Vice President for Enterprise Emergency Operations for HCA Healthcare, the nation’s largest health system, comprised of 185 hospitals and 2,000+ sites of care in 20 states and the United Kingdom.  She is responsible for advancing healthcare system preparedness across the organization and developing next-generation response capabilities to ensure a more resilient healthcare enterprise.

Previously, Melissa served as the Director of Strategic Projects at the Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and Nebraska Medicine, where she developed public-private partnerships to advance the nation’s health security. She has more than a decade of federal healthcare experience, most recently at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where she served as the Director of Health Systems.  In this role, Melissa oversaw the Department's emergency care, electronic health records, and health security portfolios. During the COVID-19 response, she was detailed to the FEMA-HHS Healthcare Resilience Task Force, where she led the Hospital Team.

Melissa also served as a member of the COVID Crisis Group, which aimed to pave the way for a potential National COVID Commission, preserve the lessons learned during the crisis, and recommend solutions to safeguard the nation from future threats. The Group published its report, Lessons from the COVID War: An Investigative Report in March 2023.

Until 2019, Melissa served as the Director of National Healthcare Preparedness Programs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she developed and advanced the implementation of policies, capabilities, and performance metrics that aimed to improve the nation’s overall healthcare emergency readiness. Melissa led ASPR’s domestic healthcare system response to Ebola, including developing a regional and tiered infectious disease strategy for the nation’s healthcare facilities. She also concurrently served as the ASPR Chief of Staff, facilitating the Office’s policy and legislative priorities and its $1.5 billion budget.

Previously, Melissa served at the Central Intelligence Agency, and was the Manager of Emergency Management for Northwell Health in New York.  At Northwell, she was responsible for all-hazards planning and response for New York State’s largest healthcare system. Melissa has clinical experience as an RN and an EMT. She attended Harvard University (MSPH), Boston College (BA), and George Mason University (BSN). 

Dr. Meg Marino is the Director and Medical Director for New Orleans EMS and a pediatric emergency medicine physician. She completed pediatrics residency at the University of Colorado in Denver and Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine where she served as chief fellow. She serves on the Louisiana EMS Certification Commission. She participates in EMS research and lectures internationally to improve the prehospital emergency care that patients receive. Dr. Marino is passionate about provider wellness and focuses efforts on providing mental health support to providers.

Jonathan N. Greene is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Center for Response within the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

He leads national programs designed to assist the country in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from public health emergencies and disasters. The Center for Response coordinates public health and healthcare response and recovery systems and activities with relevant federal, state, tribal, territorial, local, and international communities under the National Response Framework and National Disaster Recovery Framework. The Center for Response is home to the National Disaster Medical System program (NDMS), Tactical Medicine to support federal law enforcement (TACMED), Response Logistics, International Operations, the Office of Community Mitigation and Recovery, as well as the team of ASPR’s regional office team. Response serves an important liaison function to other agencies engaged in federal response activities in steady state as well as during disasters.

Prior to his work with HHS, Mr. Greene served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Operational Medicine and Health Support within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD), as well as the Deputy Assistant Secretary and Deputy Director of the DHS Office of Health Affairs, a predecessor to CWMD, where his work was focused on bio-detection, biosurveillance, as well as chemical defense and food and agriculture security.

Before joining the federal service in 2008, Mr. Greene spent over 20 years serving in public safety response and preparedness roles at the local level. His career includes line and executive level positions with fire service, law enforcement, and emergency medical service agencies. He has provided leadership to some of the country’s most progressive and innovative EMS systems in major U.S. cities.

Mr. Greene received his appointment to the Federal Senior Executive Service in 2013. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Charter Oak State College and attended the University of Connecticut Graduate School, as well as Keene State College in New Hampshire. He attended Harvard University’s National Preparedness Leadership Initiative (NPLI) and received a certificate in Public Leadership from the Brookings Institution / Washington University at St. Louis. Mr. Greene is a graduate of the Connecticut Municipal Police Academy, and has maintained licensure as a paramedic in that state since 1990.