Josh Wentzel

Bio

Josh Wentzel is a senior fellow at the Foundation for American Innovation, where he focuses on biosecurity and biotechnology policy. Previously, he served as Assistant Director of the Biosecurity and Pandemic Policy Center at Texas A&M’s Scowcroft Institute for International Affairs.

Josh has six years of experience as a congressional staffer, having worked in a House personal office as Senior Legislative Assistant and on the staff of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) working on pandemic preparedness, stockpiling, and biosecurity issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic response, Josh joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, working closely with the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) on distribution of COVID-19 medical countermeasures, interagency coordination, and ASPR testimony to Congress and communication with state and local governments.

Josh is part of the 2022 cohort of Emerging Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative (ELBI) Fellows at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, a member of the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, and serves as President of the Board of Blueprint Biosecurity Action. He holds a BA in International Studies from Emory University and an MS in Biohazardous Threat Agents and Emerging Infectious Diseases from Georgetown University.