Kenneth Bernard
In January 2005, Rear Admiral Kenneth Bernard, MD, USPHS (Ret) completed a 25-year career in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for Biodefense and Assistant Surgeon General. He had previously served as Senior Adviser for Security and Health on President Clinton’s National Security Council (NSC) Staff, and as Senior Political Adviser to the Director-General of the World Health Organization in Geneva. He currently works as a consultant and advisor to U.S. Government agencies and private sector companies on issues of biodefense, health security, health diplomacy, and intelligence, and lectures on these issues throughout the U.S. and overseas.
In November 2002, Admiral Bernard was appointed as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Biodefense on the Homeland Security Council (HSC). In that position he oversaw federal policy development to prevent, mitigate and respond to biological attacks, and to ensure national public health preparedness for all forms of terrorist attack, including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear.
Following the September 11 attacks, Admiral Bernard created the position of Special Adviser for National Security, Intelligence and Defense for the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services. He coordinated the development of a highly secure intelligence infrastructure at HHS for real time biological and chemical threat analysis and action.
From August 1998 to January 2001, he served on President Clinton’s NSC staff as Special Adviser to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. He was critical in the international negotiations relating to bioterrorism and smallpox, and HIV/AIDS as it affects national security.
Prior to joining the NSC, Dr. Bernard served as the International Health Attaché and senior representative of the U.S. Secretary of Health at the U.S. Mission to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland (1994-1998). Dr. Bernard started his career in public health as a viral disease epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control.
Dr. Bernard retired from the USPHS as a Rear Admiral. He received his AB degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1971, an M.D. from the University of California, Davis in 1975, and the DTM&H degree from the University of London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1977. He is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity at the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Defense Science Board Permanent Subcommittee on Threat Reduction at the Department of Defense.