Policy Forum # Performance Review: Evaluating the CDC in the Wake of the COVID Pandemic ##### Watch the Event Download: [ Video ](https://fastly-unsigned-us-east-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/6039378657001/f2a64c36-0ac9-47d3-ac22-2d6ae7e87b02/79dbae4b-58c7-4d6b-99a6-db5d691577a7/main.mp4) [ Audio ](https://assets.pippa.io/shows/5e2e15a046f4465f31c89d8c/1671057388790-4e70f8aaef5d4b2ea716ac6b333108b5.mp3) Join the conversation on X using [\#CatoHealth](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoHealth). Follow [@CatoInstitute](https://x.com/catoinstitute) on X to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute. Date and Time December 9, 2022 12 - 1:30 PM EST Location Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW, Washington, DC Share This Event ##### Featuring ![Martin A. Makary headshot](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-10/martin-makary.jpeg?itok=GN0yJdai) Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH Professor of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Professor of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health [ ](https://twitter.com/MartyMakary) ![Ari N. Schulman portrait](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2022-10/ari-schulman.jpeg?itok=8tVzJg6E) Ari N. Schulman Editor of *The New Atlantis* and *The New Atlantis Books* [ ](https://twitter.com/AriSchulman) [![Media Name: bailey.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/bailey.jpg?itok=K4YWiayx)](/people/ronald-bailey) [Ronald A. Bailey](/people/ronald-bailey) Science Correspondent, <em>Reason</em> Magazine and Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute [ ](https://twitter.com/ronaldbailey) [![jeff-singer-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-05/jeff-singer-cropped.jpg?itok=G_0nEnx7)](/people/jeffrey-singer) [Jeffrey A. Singer](/people/jeffrey-singer) Senior Fellow, Cato Institute [ ](https://x.com/dr4liberty) [ ](mailto:jsinger@cato.org) Rochelle Walensky, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said, “For 75 years, CDC and public health have been preparing for COVID-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations.” She announced plans to “reset” the agency by restructuring its communications team, changing its organizational structure, and emphasizing applied rather than academic scientific research. Where did the CDC fail, and where did it succeed in responding to the COVID pandemic? Did the agency’s leadership suffer from politicization and groupthink? Is the Director’s proposed “reset” enough of a reform? Are there other systematic agency failures that reformers should remedy? Joining us to discuss these and other questions are Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, Professor of Surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; Ari N. Schulman, editor of The New Atlantis, and The New Atlantis Books; and Ronald A. Bailey, science correspondent for Reason Magazine and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. The discussion will be moderated by Cato Institute senior fellow Jeffrey A. Singer, MD. **Lunch to follow** ## Additional Resources - “[Make the CDC an Infectious Disease Epidemic Fighter Again](https://reason.com/2022/08/17/make-the-cdc-an-infectious-disease-epidemic-fighter-again/),” Ronald A. Bailey, *Reason*, August 17, 2022 - “[What Is the CDC?](https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/what-is-the-cdc),” Ari N. Schulman, *The New Atlantis*, Fall 2021 - “[Why Many Americans Turned on Anthony Fauci](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/30/opinion/why-anthony-faucis-covid-legacy-is-a-failure.html),” Ari N. Schulman, *New York Times*, August 30, 2022 - “[The High Cost of Disparaging Natural Immunity to Covid](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-high-cost-of-disparaging-natural-immunity-to-covid-vaccine-mandates-protests-fire-rehire-employment-11643214336),” Marty Makary, *Wall Street Journal*, January 26, 2022 - “[The Case Against Masks for Children](https://www.wsj.com/articles/masks-children-parenting-schools-mandates-covid-19-coronavirus-pandemic-biden-administration-cdc-11628432716),” Marty Makary and H. Cody Meissner, *Wall Street Journal*, August 8, 2021 - “[America Has Been Flying Blind This Pandemic](https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/marty-makary/94619),” Marty Makary, *MedPage Today*, September 21, 2021 - “[The Growing Culture of Censorship by PIO](https://www.cjr.org/criticism/public-information-officer-access-federal-agencies.php),” Kathryn Foxhall, *Columbia Journalism Review*, August 3, 2022 - “[Former Media Relations Head: Restrictions Tightened on CDC Reporting Long before the Pandemic](https://www.quillmag.com/2022/09/22/former-media-relations-head-restrictions-tightened-on-cdc-reporting-long-before-the-pandemic/),” Kathryn Foxhall, *Quill*, September 22, 2022 - “[The CDC as We Know It Has to Go](https://brownstone.org/articles/the-cdc-as-we-know-it-has-to-go/?fbclid=IwAR1efSsN6PIMbPCKBhOX6clgON8ZUql9Wrcwflo3DYC8vDyEYYELKZLz8BI),” by Brent Hadaway, Brownstone Institute, November 23, 2022 - “[CDC Moving Forward Summary Report](https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/cdc-moving-forward-summary-report.html),” September 1, 2022 [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).