The international entities in place to mitigate pandemics are more prepared than ever, but more must be done, panelists said.

Legislators also created a rapid response fund for emerging disease outbreaks while providing NIH, DARPA with funding increases.

Luis Martinez, like many scientists, did not set out to be a leader in public engagement with science. For him, this aspect of his career arose largely through a research project that attracted the interest of the Los Angeles Times. This attention from a national newspaper led to other interviews, and eventually he was recruited by one of his professional associations, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), to be on their communication committee. Through ASM, he helped with communication training workshops for graduate students, realizing along the way that he had more experience to share than he’d realized.