The Safety Platform for Emergency vACcines (SPEAC) is a project funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). SPEAC is located at Brighton Collaboration, a program of the Task Force for Global Health.
© SPEAC 2023. All rights reserved.
Director of the Center for Vaccine Equity
Before stepping into her role as CVE Director, Dr. Fry served as Director of Clinical Operations and Health Services at Fulton County Board of Health, where she oversaw clinical operations (including immunization) aimed at preventing illnesses at five County Health Centers. Prior to her role at Fulton County, Dr. Fry served 23 years in various roles at CDC, most recently as Chief of the Epidemiology and Prevention Branch of the Influenza Division. Before becoming Branch Chief, Dr. Fry served as Lead of the Influenza Prevention and Control Team and Medical Officer in the International Surveillance and Research teams.
Quality and Continuous Improvement Co-Lead
Preetha Iyengar, MD is a board certified pediatrician with a decade of experience in applied public health research, outbreak response, and surveillance in public health agencies. She completed her pediatrics residency in the Social Pediatrics Program at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx where she served as Chief Resident. She was then a Lieutenant Commander in the US Public Health Service Corp and served as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Global Disease Detection Branch. After her fellowship, she worked at Save the Children as a technical advisor for Newborn Health in Humanitarian Emergencies. Before returning to Michigan, she was the Medical Officer for the Division of Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance at the District of Columbia (DC) Department of Health, where she lead infectious disease surveillance and response activities in the District, and during the COVID-19 pandemic was the lead Medical Officer and Unit Chief of the Outbreak Response Division. She is now a pediatrician at IHA Medical Group in Michigan.
Vaccine Safety Templates Co-Lead
Dr. Karuna is a physician-scientist who has worked at the intersection of science, medicine & global public health for over 20 years, across biotechnology, academic, non-profit and government sectors. She leads global clinical research & development advancing vaccines and antibodies to prevent, treat, and cure infectious diseases. Most recently, she has served as a senior physician-scientist at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer at early-stage biotechnology companies dedicated to developing vaccines and antibodies for global unmet medical needs, including HIV, herpesviruses, sarbecoviruses, flaviviruses and other emerging infectious diseases.
Dr. Karuna serves as a scientific advisor to organizations advancing global vaccine equity, HIV prevention & immunology research, and public health. She has published and is a reviewer for multiple scientific journals. And she has practiced as a physician for over 15 years, providing general medical care and surgical consultation for underserved patients in Seattle, Washington, where she lives with her family.
Dr. Karuna graduated from Duke University, then earned her MD from the University of California, San Diego and her MPH from the University of Washington in Seattle, and completed her integrative medicine fellowship at the University of Arizona.
Active Safety Surveillance Co-Lead
Dr. Esperança Sevene is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and the Coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Biosciences and Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) in Mozambique. Dr. Sevene studied medicine at Eduardo Mondlane University and earned her Master’s in pharmacology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She completed a senior fellowship focused on pharmacovigilance in pregnancy with the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) in 2005. Learn more about her vaccine safety work >
