NTI | bio Appoints New Senior Director and Welcomes New Program Officer

NTI is pleased to announce the appointment of Hayley Severance as senior director for the Global Biological Policy and Programs team (NTI | bio), and the addition of Gabrielle Essix as the team’s new program officer. For more than three years, Severance has served as a senior program officer for NTI | bio, overseeing the Global Biosecurity Dialogue and the Next Generation for Biosecurity Competition, as well as NTI | bio’s work to advocate for global health security progress. Essix comes to NTI | bio from the Science and Technology division of Merrick & Company, where she served as a project analyst and operations manager.

“In her new role as senior director, Hayley brings strategic vision, strong interpersonal skills, and an emphasis on effective teamwork, all of which will greatly benefit NTI | bio and the organization as a whole,” said NTI | bio Interim Vice President Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg. “We are also pleased to welcome Gabrielle to the team. Her technical knowledge and expertise will help NTI | bio further its important work to strengthen global health security.”

Severance came to NTI in 2018 from the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, where as a senior policy advisor, she developed strategic policy guidance for the Cooperative Threat Reduction’s Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP) and advanced the Department’s contributions to the U.S. commitment under the Global Health Security Agenda.

At Merrick & Company, Essix supported development, execution, and technical knowledge research related to laboratory operations and transition, biosafety, biosecurity, WMD non-proliferation, and health security for domestic and international projects with commercial and government clients.