How to Build a Flying Ebola Hospital

I’ve been trying to get a conversation with today’s interviewee, Eric Van Gieson, PhD, since March. Van Gieson is a remarkable character, with a crazy CV: more than 25 years of experience in developing medical technology, and stints at multiple federal agencies including DARPA.

A lot of people have spilled a lot of ink discussing what went wrong during COVID, but I think what Van Gieson lays out here is close to a comprehensive account of the reasons we blew it, and how not to blow it in the future.

We discuss:

* Why is the federal “pandemic preparedness” apparatus so sprawling?

* Why haven’t we learned from COVID mistakes, or even run reviews on what went wrong?

* How would you revamp the federal apparatus to be ready for the next pandemic?

* We don’t test whether generic drugs can fight pathogens. Why not??

* How did Van Gieson and colleagues ship a flying Ebola hospital in 6 weeks?

* How can we make sure DARPA-developed biotech doesn’t end up in the hands of adversaries?