Dr. Rajiv Shah

with the first Trump administration and stand up testing infrastructure, especially antigen testing across America at scale. I mean, when we started that project, there were only, it would take four or five days to get a PCR-based test result if you were lucky enough to get it in like April of 2000.

with the first Trump administration and stand up testing infrastructure, especially antigen testing across America at scale. I mean, when we started that project, there were only, it would take four or five days to get a PCR-based test result if you were lucky enough to get it in like April of 2000.

And the lack of testing availability retrospectively has probably been the number one reason COVID became an out-of-control crisis here in the U.S. And the U.S. suffered the highest level of morbidity and mortality relative to any OECD country on the planet against expectations. And we were able to do that as a big bet that worked in terms of getting testing stood up.

And the lack of testing availability retrospectively has probably been the number one reason COVID became an out-of-control crisis here in the U.S. And the U.S. suffered the highest level of morbidity and mortality relative to any OECD country on the planet against expectations. And we were able to do that as a big bet that worked in terms of getting testing stood up.

Then after COVID, we said, well, we should build a huge data infrastructure so everybody shares data together in real time on new cases of any pandemic so that if there's an outbreak somewhere in the world, authorities and labs and experts anywhere in the world can see it. And we tried to stand that up.

Then after COVID, we said, well, we should build a huge data infrastructure so everybody shares data together in real time on new cases of any pandemic so that if there's an outbreak somewhere in the world, authorities and labs and experts anywhere in the world can see it. And we tried to stand that up.

That didn't work because the politics were too hard and it was too complicated and this and that. And so We do things that sometimes work and make us really proud of the impact. And we do things that sometimes fail and are sources of learning for us as we go forward.

That didn't work because the politics were too hard and it was too complicated and this and that. And so We do things that sometimes work and make us really proud of the impact. And we do things that sometimes fail and are sources of learning for us as we go forward.

But maintaining the willingness and the risk appetite to try to solve problems and not just make incremental improvements on a tough situation, that's what we try to do day to day.

But maintaining the willingness and the risk appetite to try to solve problems and not just make incremental improvements on a tough situation, that's what we try to do day to day.

Oh, no, we got that. We still do. You know, there's always... an undertone of noise related to those types of conspiracy theories. But the reality is our job is really to be data-driven and science-based in making good judgments. And we don't do our work ourselves. We are fundamentally tethered to bringing together unlikely partners and building coalitions.

Oh, no, we got that. We still do. You know, there's always... an undertone of noise related to those types of conspiracy theories. But the reality is our job is really to be data-driven and science-based in making good judgments. And we don't do our work ourselves. We are fundamentally tethered to bringing together unlikely partners and building coalitions.

And that simple process of doing that tends to earn the buy-in and the support you need in communities where you're doing the work itself. So when we stood up our COVID testing effort, we partnered with more than 40 mayors and local leaders across the country, Republican and Democratic, their health administrations, Navajo Nation, NGOs, CORE serving underserved communities in Los Angeles.

And that simple process of doing that tends to earn the buy-in and the support you need in communities where you're doing the work itself. So when we stood up our COVID testing effort, we partnered with more than 40 mayors and local leaders across the country, Republican and Democratic, their health administrations, Navajo Nation, NGOs, CORE serving underserved communities in Los Angeles.

And we said, we want to listen to and learn from all of you and then transmit that learning to, at the time, the head of the program at HHS, and then also take knowledge and resources from experts and make sure it reaches this vast network.

And we said, we want to listen to and learn from all of you and then transmit that learning to, at the time, the head of the program at HHS, and then also take knowledge and resources from experts and make sure it reaches this vast network.

And that network mindset, that determination to work in partnership, I think helps build the trust that allows you to either overcome or not succumb to the reference you made to people who are more worried about the conspiracy theories.

And that network mindset, that determination to work in partnership, I think helps build the trust that allows you to either overcome or not succumb to the reference you made to people who are more worried about the conspiracy theories.

Part of how we maintain an appetite for risk and a capacity to work that way, I think, is just being really true to our core DNA. That's the founding construct of this institution was not to be a charity that's all things to all people and not to try to meet every immediate need.

Part of how we maintain an appetite for risk and a capacity to work that way, I think, is just being really true to our core DNA. That's the founding construct of this institution was not to be a charity that's all things to all people and not to try to meet every immediate need.