Legendary philanthropist, entrepreneur, investor and producer Jeff Skoll will interview Dr. Mark Smolinski, world-renowned epidemiologist and president of the nonprofit Ending Pandemics, for an exclusive NEXUS discussion, "Looking Ahead to a Safer World: COVID-19 & Beyond".
Join us for a lively and informative exploration of the challenges at hand and the ways that visionary philanthropic investment are leading global progress towards a safer and healthier world.
As planetary changes in climate, land use, consumption, travel and trade significantly heighten disease outbreak risk, the horizon also holds innovative approaches, technologies and collaborations with the potential to transform global pandemic preparedness and disease prevention!
As founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation, the Skoll Global Threats Fund, Participant Media, and the Capricorn Investment Group, Jeff Skoll is bringing life to his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity. As the first full-time employee and first President of eBay, Jeff developed the company’s inaugural business plan and led its successful initial public offering. eBay has since become the world’s largest on-line marketplace, giving hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers the opportunity to connect and become successful online entrepreneurs. After pioneering the creation of the eBay Foundation, Jeff founded the Skoll Foundation in 1999. Over the last 15 years, Jeff has created an innovative portfolio of philanthropic and commercial enterprises, each a distinctive social catalyst. Together, these organizations drive social impact by investing in a range of efforts that integrate powerful stories and data with entrepreneurial approaches.
Mark Smolinski, MD, MPH is president of Ending Pandemics, which was spun out from the Skoll Global Threats Fund in 2018 to provide scientific and technical expertise and catalytic funding to find outbreaks faster. With a career that spans three-decades fighting outbreaks across five continents, Smolinski also has served as epidemic intelligence officer with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), senior advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General, and study director at the National Academies of Sciences, as well as joining the founding team at Google.org to focus on innovative, data-based approaches to detecting pandemic threats. He was recently named to serve on the Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats, under direction of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, that is providing scientific advice on the COVID-19 pandemic response.
