Matthew Ferreira, a 2022 graduate of the program, has been selected as a 2023 Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) fellow at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health and Security. The 31 fellows in the 2023 class, the program’s 10th, were chosen from some 227 applicants from around the world after a rigorous selection process.
“I am so excited to be accepted into the ELBI Fellowship program,” Ferreira said. “I am looking forward to meeting and connecting with the others in the Fellowship class as well as alumni of the program. Many of the professionals and scholars that I have had the pleasure to work with have participated in ELBI, so I’m honored to have the chance to meet and learn from this cohort of diverse and talented people in the coming year.”
His experience in the biodefense program contributed greatly to his professional growth, he said.
“The coursework has allowed me to better implement my current knowledge in the environment of government service and national security work. Additionally, the opportunity to meet and learn from classmates in the various biodefense, policy and government, and public administration programs was incredibly enriching and invaluable.”
Ferreira is the director of operations for Soteria Solutions, an Arlington, Virginia-based firm that provides innovative solutions to complex logistics problems, with a specific focus on crisis-affected areas. He previously served as an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the State Department where he worked directly on international COVID-19 response operations, global health, and biodefense.
The ELBI program is an opportunity for talented career professionals to deepen their expertise, expand their network, and build their leadership skills through a series of sponsored events coordinated by the Hopkins center. The fellowship boasts more than 250 alumni who come from government, defense, private industry, science, law, public health, medicine, global health, journalism, the social sciences, and academia.