Director, Division of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures
Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
| Dr. Gerald Kovacs is the Director of the Division of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Countermeasures in the Office of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) within the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. At BARDA, Dr. Kovacs focuses on addressing the major scientific and regulatory challenges of developing medical countermeasures against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. Dr. Kovacs is responsible for the development, implementation, and oversight of programs authorized by the Project BioShield Act of 2004 and the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006. Since joining BARDA in 2005, Dr. Kovacs has expanded BARDA’s portfolio of CBRN programs from four to forty-eight. He has led five programs through Phase II clinical testing, and has delivered five first-in-class medical countermeasures to the Strategic National Stockpile. |
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From 2003-2005, Dr. Kovacs was instrumental in establishing the Office of Biodefense Research Affairs (OBRA) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. At OBRA, he led the team that established the program to develop a novel smallpox vaccine for use in the immune-compromised. He completed clinical studies in healthy, atopic, and HIV subjects, and delivered over one million doses of vaccine to the US government.
Prior to his career in public service, Dr. Kovacs was a principal research scientist at Wyeth Vaccines. During that period, he led R&D programs developing herpes simplex, parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial and papilloma virus candidate vaccines. He also led Wyeth’s post-9/11 efforts in the development of a second-generation smallpox vaccine.
Dr. Kovacs received his doctorate degree from the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Texas A&M University, and subsequently trained as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and the National Institutes of Health.