Ellen P. Carlin

• @DrEllenCarlin

Ellen P. Carlin, DVM, is an assistant research professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University where she is faculty with the Center for Global Health Science and Security. Her research interests are in the epidemiology of emerging infections and adequacy of policies to address them. She studies transmission dynamics of zoonotic pathogens, focusing on the interfaces among people, animals, and the environments in which they live. She has worked on infectious disease projects in Liberia, Guinea, Kenya, and Tanzania. She also studies the adequacy and impacts of U.S. domestic and global governance on biothreat risks. At Georgetown, Ellen is also the director of the Global Infectious Disease Master of Science program at the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

Ellen received a bachelor of science degree in biology from the College of Mount Saint Vincent and a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine. Exploring an interest in infectious disease policy, she worked for more than five years on Capitol Hill with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security (Peter T. King, NY), first as a fellow of the American Veterinary Medical Association/American Association for the Advancement of Science and ultimately as senior professional staff. She was responsible for the medical preparedness, biodefense, and science and technology policy portfolios. After the Hill, among other activities she worked with colleagues to found the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense, a central bipartisan voice advocating for improvements in U.S. biodefense since 2014. Ellen retains an affiliation with the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine where she teaches a class on the role of the federal government in animal health, and has worked or volunteered since 2007 as a small animal clinical veterinarian, continuing today to participate in low income and vaccine clinics.