CLTR appoints Sophie Rose to lead its biosecurity policy work

The Centre for Long-Term Resilience (CLTR) has appointed Sophie Rose to build out its biosecurity policy programme. Sophie will lead the development of CLTR’s key biosecurity policy recommendations and work to ensure the biological threats facing the UK are brought to the forefront of UK policy.

Sophie was previously a Research Fellow at the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and is currently a fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks’ Ending Bioweapons Programs. Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sophie co-founded 1Day Sooner, a non-profit advocating for people who want to take part in high-impact medical studies. To date, nearly 40,000 people have expressed an interest in a COVID-19 human challenge trial.

An alum of Stanford University and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sophie holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and a Master’s degree in Infectious Disease Epidemiology.

CLTR, which is based in London, works to transform the UK and the world’s resilience to extreme risks – high-impact threats with global reach. We want to ensure that the next time the world faces a threat like Covid-19, we are better prepared.

CLTR’s work focuses on three key pillars:

1. Biosecurity, including naturally-occuring pandemics, laboratory leaks and bioweapons;
2. Artificial intelligence, where responsible technology development will be essential to enabling benefits and mitigating risk; and
3. Risk management systems, to transform our approach to governance and to the identification, assessment and mitigation of extreme risks.

Angus Mercer, founder and Chief Executive of CLTR, says:

“Sophie is both an acclaimed research scientist and social entrepreneur, with extensive experience in the field of infectious diseases. We couldn’t ask for a more talented person to lead our biosecurity programme, and are really excited to welcome Sophie to the team.”

Sophie Rose says:

“It’s difficult to overstate the importance of CLTR’s work and I am thrilled to be joining the growing team. There is a huge amount of work to do to address the full range of biosecurity risks that the world faces. I can’t wait to get underway, leading and building out CLTR’s biosecurity programme and networks.”