• CERAWEEK 2025 | March 10-14, 2025
  • CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

James Le Duc

The University of Texas Medical Branch

Director, Galveston National Laboratory & Professor, Microbiology and Immunology

James Le Duc, PhD, is the director of the Galveston National Laboratory, one of the largest active biocontainment facilities on a U.S. academic campus. Dr. Le Duc joined UTMB in late 2006 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where he was the influenza coordinator and director of the Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases. With more than four decades of experience working in the fields of biodefense and public health, his work has taken him around the world, from West Africa, where he began his professional career as a field biologist working for the Smithsonian Institution, to Brazil and Panama during a 23-year career as a U.S. Army officer in the medical research and development command.

Sessions With James Le Duc

Monday, 9 March

  • 07:30pm - 09:00pm (CST) / -

    Post-Coronavirus World: Global implications
    Geopolitics/Policy/Regulatory Markets

    The outbreak and the ongoing spread of Covid-19, which began just three months ago in Hubei province in China, is generating the rightful amount of attention and fear. Many parts of Chinese extensive manufacturing sector and critical supply chain remain shut down. Travel restrictions generate negative impact on airlines, tourism, and retail revenues. While there is hope that the virus could be contained in the coming weeks, the impacts are likely to be felt much longer. What is the likely impact of the outbreak and its consequence on the Chinese economy? How long will the effects last? To what extent could the disruption of supply chains involving Chinese partners lead to redirection of trade and processing away from the country? Are the Chinese authorities and broader global medical community meeting the test in trying to contain the spread of the virus in the most effective way? What can we learn about risks from pandemics in the future? What will be the longer-term impact of the current situation on China’s standing in the world, both economic and geopolitical?