Khan ’s initial work in emergency preparedness started in 1999 when he helped establish CDC ’s bioterrorism program , which upgraded local , state , and national public health systems to detect and rapidly respond to bioterrorism . As deputy director of the bioterrorism program , Khan created the Critical Agent list , which has remained the basis for all biological terrorism preparedness . Dr. Khan also published the first national public health preparedness plan , initiated syndrome based surveillance , and designed key focus areas to improve local and State capacities to respond to emergencies . Khan used these preparedness efforts during the first anthrax attack in 2001 , during which he directed the CDC operational response in Washington , D.C. Prior to becoming Director of PHPR in August 2010 , Dr. Khan served as Deputy Director of CDC ’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases ( NCEZID ) . He has responded to and led numerous domestic and international public health emergencies , including hantavirus pulmonary syndrome , Ebola hemorrhagic fever , monkeypox , Rift Valley fever , avian influenza , severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS ) , the Asian tsunami , and the initial public health response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans
Asian tsunami
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Ali S. Khan