Donna Barbisch, RES ‘96
I’ve worked over the years on senior leader decision support tools and serious gaming to drive better outcomes in overwhelming crisis situations, using pandemic scenarios as the battlefield. During the current COVID-19 crisis, I am involved in supporting communities across the country as well as globally, especially in the Caribbean, with the Global Health Response and Resilience Initiative (GHRRI). GHRRI works bottom up and coordinates the top down efforts, in building resiliency and resolving complex global issues. I am also engaged in COVID-19 research to find predictors and targets to improve outcomes. The USAWC was instrumental in honing my focus on future threats with pandemics and biowarfare central to those threats, and my final assignment prior to retirement in 2005 was as the Director of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Program Integration within Office of the Secretary of Defense, Chem Bio Defense. I completed a doctoral degree at the Medical University of South Carolina in 1999 focusing on the integration of military medical assets for domestic bioterrorism. Over the past 20+ years, I worked at all levels of government, public and private, as well as non-profit organizations, in researching and developing solutions. I publish and lecture extensively on the complex challenges in the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) environment of Wicked Problems. Among relevant published articles are: Is There a Case for Quarantine? Perspectives from SARS to Ebola and Understanding Surge Capacity: Essential Elements.
MG (Ret) Donna Barbisch
Resident Class of 1996
Wicked Solutions, LLC
