Med center experts lead NATO exercise

A UNMC-led team recently had the opportunity to ensure world leaders were prepared for global infectious disease threats.

The team, led by UNMC health security expert Jocelyn Herstein, PhD, developed and ran a high-level infectious disease exercise to educate members of NATO’s medical working group.

The three-day program was a milestone for the International Partnerships and Programs team, an extension of NETEC (National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center) and part of the med center’s Global Center for Health Security.

“It was incredibly rewarding to have UNMC and NETEC make such a contribution on the global stage,” Dr. Herstein said.

The Lincoln, Nebraska, native is director of NETEC’s International Partnerships and Programs, which was established in 2022 – eight years after NETEC was formed by UNMC and Nebraska Medicine, Emory University and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue to focus on education and training during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. NETEC is funded by the U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR).

NETEC principal investigator John Lowe, PhD, said that since 2022, NETEC’s international work has grown and expanded exponentially. “NETEC has had an important role in domestic preparedness and response for special pathogens since its inception in 2015. With Dr. Herstein’s leadership, we have had remarkable growth and opportunities to take that role global.”

April’s three-day workshop in Washington, D.C., involved 17 NATO member countries and 25 participants that examined long-range transport capabilities for patients during a multinational exposure event, along with international biocontainment care capabilities.  

“Much of the workshop was focused on the work UNMC and NETEC have been doing nationally and rapidly expanding, globally,” Dr. Herstein said. “Playing a central role in the essential education and training of NATO countries is an incredible opportunity.”

NETEC’s International Partnerships and Programs is designed to strengthen relationships and share expertise with international partners working in special pathogens preparedness and response. The IPP fills an important niche by focusing on increasing collaboration global high-level isolations units – facilities with similar capabilities and mandates as U.S. Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers. In 2022, the program began engaging with core partners from three countries. Today, NETEC’s International Partnerships and Programs brings participants together bimonthly for virtual education sessions, and its partnerships have grown to more than 40 special pathogens programs in 19 countries.

Dr. Herstein said the April workshop evolved from a June 2023 NETEC-led tabletop exercise in San Francisco, co-led by UNMC’s Lauren Sauer, that brought together participants from six countries, multiple federal agencies and included ASPR representative Joe Lamana, who also serves as vice chair of the NATO civilian joint health group. During the exercise, gaps in health security capacity were identified, along with the need to escalate those gaps and conversations to international organizations, such as NATO. This, Dr. Herstein said, led to NETEC International Partnerships and Programs being invited to do a similar exercise this spring with ministries of health and military representatives from the NATO alliance.

As the Global Center for Health Security’s first staff member in 2017, Dr. Herstein has helped NETEC and the Global Center for Health Security become world experts on issues involving infectious disease preparedness and response.

The awareness and engagement is remarkable, she said, noting how, during a training exercise last year in Germany, a public health official from Stuttgart, Germany, remarked: “What is it about Nebraska?”