Dr. Paul Friedrichs Will Head New White House Pandemic Response Office

The Biden Administration has announced the creation of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR), a permanent executive office aimed at leading, coordinating, and implementing actions to prepare for and respond to pathogens that could lead to a pandemic or significant public health-related disruptions in the US. Leading these efforts will be retired US Air Force Major General Paul Friedrichs, MD, FACS, who President Biden announced as the inaugural director of OPPR and principal advisor on pandemic preparedness and response. Dr. Friedrichs will assume the role when the OPPR officially opens on August 7.

Dr. Friedrichs, a urologist, currently serves as special assistant to the President and senior director for global health security and biodefense at the National Security Council (NSC). He previously served as joint staff surgeon at the Pentagon, where he coordinated all issues related to health services, provided medical advice to the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and served as medical adviser to the Department of Defense (DoD) COVID-19 Task Force.

An ACS Fellow since 2000, Dr. Friedrichs has provided care for hundreds of patients injured in combat and has a history of service addressing public health challenges, at home and abroad. Dr. Friedrichs oversaw the DoD global patient evacuation system, led the DoD task force that developed plans to implement high-reliability medical principles across DoD, and grew the Air Force’s first medical analytics capabilities. As the US representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Committee of Military Medical Chiefs, Dr. Friedrich worked with allies and partners throughout the pandemic and in developing medical support to the Ukrainian military.