Dr Alexandra Phelan // Pandemic preparedness, the passion puzzle and playing The Sims

I’m so excited to share one of the women whose praises I could sing over and over who was originally lined up for International Women's Day for the incredible impact she has had on my journey through many different chapters. Dr Alexandra Phelan was a few years ahead of me at Monash University and, as you’ll hear, has a very similar personality combination of "nerdburger vs arty farty" with a splash of languages and also started her career at the same law firm as I did which was one of the reasons I wanted to work there in the first place. While we both ultimately left corporate law. Alex is a glowing example of how you can stay within the law and find a niche that suits your strengths and interests and she has gone on to become a seriously impressive Member of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University School of Medicine, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Her Honours AND Doctoral theses both focused on International Law and the prevention of infectious diseases (including the possibility of measures like quarantine and border closures before they became as relevant as we know them to be), which has made her a leading global authority on health security and INCREDIBLY relevant to the world’s response to COVID-19. Alex is infinitely impressive, painfully humble and continues to inspire me every day - I’m so honoured she made time to join the show from Washington DC. She shares some fascinating insights on the more technical side to the challenge of a global pandemic like COVID-19 with her intellect and empathy shining through. + Follow Alex here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.