J. Stephen Morrison

Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center
J. Stephen Morrison

J. Stephen Morrison, PhD, is a senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and directs its Global Health Policy Center. Through several high-level commissions, he has shaped decisions in Congress and the administration on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and gender equality, and health security, including pandemic preparedness. Currently, the CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Global Health Security is addressing critical post-Covid challenges. Since 2018, Morrison has led global health security fora at the annual Munich Security Conference. He directed The New Barbarianism, an award-winning documentary on violence against the health sector. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he has directed seven episodes of the CSIS video series Ukraine: The Human Price of War. He cohosts the weekly podcast series The CommonHealth. From 2021 to 2023, he served as the James R. Schlesinger Distinguished Professor at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. He is a trustee of the China Medical Board, a member of the board of the Rostropovich Vishnevskaya Foundation, and a member of advisory boards to the International Division at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Johns Hopkins University Center for Humanitarian Health. He served in the Clinton administration on the secretary of state’s Policy Planning Staff and on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa. He taught for 12 years at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, holds a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale College.

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The CommonHealth

Dr. Chris Murray, IHME: The “Commission of Commissions.”

Dr. Chris Murray, IHME, co-chairs the Lancet Commission on 21st Century Global Threats to Health, which will launch its report in February at the Munich Security Conference.

Podcast Episode by J. Stephen Morrison — January 8, 2026

The CommonHealth

Financing Pandemic Preparedness

In the face of deep cuts to global health security programming, actions are unfolding on several fronts to reform pandemic preparedness and response financing. This session will focus on the question: where do things stand, as 2025 draws to a close? What can we anticipate, looking forward into 2026? 

Event — December 10, 2025

Audio Briefs

Experts React: Progress and Setbacks at COP30

An audio version of “Experts React: Progress and Setbacks at COP30,” a new Commentary by CSIS’s Leslie Abrahams, Jane Nakano, Noam Unger, J. Stephen Morrison, Katherine E. Bliss, Mathias Zacarias, Ray Cai, and Alexis Burns. This audio was generated using text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Leslie Abrahams, Jane Nakano, Noam Unger, J. Stephen Morrison, Katherine E. Bliss, Mathias Zacarias, Ray Cai, and Alexis Burns — November 25, 2025

Audio Briefs

Experts React: Progress and Setbacks at COP30

COP30 showcased noteworthy progress while exposing persistent roadblocks in global climate diplomacy. CSIS experts react to the conference’s most significant outcomes and their implications for the future of climate, energy, health, development, and the COP process at large.

Commentary by Leslie Abrahams, Jane Nakano, Noam Unger, J. Stephen Morrison, Katherine E. Bliss, Mathias Zacarias, Ray Cai, and Alexis Burns — November 25, 2025

The CommonHealth

Rep. Adam Smith on Engaging China

Listen to the recent CSIS Bipartisan Alliance for Health Security discussion with Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee, on his experience leading a Congressional delegation to China in late September 2025. 

Podcast Episode by J. Stephen Morrison — November 14, 2025

The CommonHealth

A New Landscape for Development: Examining Impacts, Capabilities, and Opportunities

Cuts to foreign assistance have been among the most sweeping changes of the second Trump administration. This compendium dives deep into the impacts on fields across the development ecosystem and potential opportunities within this new landscape.

Digital Report by Hadeil Ali, Andrew Friedman, Noam Unger, J. Stephen Morrison, Katherine E. Bliss, Romina Bandura, Caitlin Welsh, David Michel, Rose Parker, and Joely Virzi — November 13, 2025

The CommonHealth

Dr. Rick Brennan: “This is not good for the American soul.”

Dr. Rick Brennan, an acclaimed Australian humanitarian leader who led WHO and NGO crisis response in multiple conflicts over several decades, walks us through his personal story.

Podcast Episode by J. Stephen Morrison — November 7, 2025

The CommonHealth

Rep. Adam Smith on Engaging China

A discussion with Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09) on his experience leading a Congressional delegation to China in late September 2025. 

Event — November 6, 2025