NINA GETS THINGS DONE.
Nina Schwalbe, MPH, PhD, has spent her career as a public servant, working hard to fix broken systems and connect people to life-saving care.
Right now, Washington is broken and Congress is not doing anything about it. We need a leader like Nina to bring fundamental change to the system.
SIXTH-GENERATION NEW YORKER
Scientist. Public health leader. Vaccine champion. Small business owner. Dance mom. Nina has lived and worked all over the world. And New York has always been home. This city has made Nina who she is and she’s never stopped believing Washington can better serve New Yorkers.
DATA-DRIVEN DECISION MAKER
When COVID hit, the Biden–Harris Administration tapped Nina to design and lead a $7 billion USAID emergency initiative that distributed more than 500 million vaccines worldwide. Lives were at stake and Nina delivered.
Focused on outcomes and accountability, Nina knows that basing decisions on data brings the best results.
PUBLIC HEALTH LEADER
Nina is a scientist who puts evidence into action.
She has decades of experience in leadership roles at some of the world’s most complex institutions where politics, finances, logistics, and human lives intersect. She has managed large teams and large budgets, negotiated among governments, strengthened systems that operate across borders, and created alliances that deliver results.
From vaccine access and pandemic preparedness to maternal health, disability inclusion, and human rights, Nina has dedicated her life to ensuring public systems serve people.
ROOTED IN NEW YORK
Nina grew up in NY-12 and gave birth to her children here. She took care of her parents as they died here. She has marched for our rights on these streets. And she loves the people and neighborhoods that make New York, New York.
New York has been home to her family for six generations and Nina believes this moment demands leadership that shows up for New Yorkers.
READY FOR CONGRESS
Health. Housing. Transit. Safety. Nina understands how systems connect and why fixing them now matters.
Nina is running for Congress because this moment demands leadership that protects what matters, rebuilds stronger, and prepares for tomorrow.
CRISIS-TESTED.
READY TO LEAD.
Nina is a relentless doer who turns bold ideas into real-world results. She’s led at the highest levels of public service, from leading health for UNICEF to advising New York City and governments around the world during the COVID crisis.
Appointed by the Biden-Harris administration to design and launch a $7B USAID emergency initiative, delivering hundreds of millions of vaccines globally
Negotiated radical price reduction of the cervical cancer vaccine so it could be widely available in low-income countries
Led the implementation of an initiative developed by Nobel Prize–winning economists that prevented more than 700,000 childhood deaths and drove policies enabling tens of millions of children to access new, life-saving vaccines
Designed a World Bank program leveraging public and private finance to deliver a 700% return on investment for women’s and children’s health
During the COVID-19 pandemic, advised the New York City Mayor’s office and schools throughout the city on keeping schools open and fought for equity-focused vaccine policies
Community volunteer, grassroots canvasser, active member of local Democratic club, and lifelong Democrat
Dance mom, YMCA swim team mom, West Side Little League mom, parents committee member, and condominium board chair
Secured recognition of same-sex couples working for the United Nations in Geneva, advancing equality in international institutions
Directed programs and designed policies expanding equitable access to HIV and tuberculosis treatment, harm reduction, LGBTQ+ services, palliative care, elder care, mental health services, disability rights, and the use of AI in low-resource settings
Led policy efforts to accelerate the development of faster, life-saving cures for tuberculosis, the leading infectious killer of adults worldwide
Championed the development of a newly adopted global treaty to shape more equitable and effective global pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response
Introduced real time and independent accountability metrics in US governments and in programs around the world
Shaped the public policy debate, writing for major outlets including the Washington Post, Financial Times, the Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Stat News, and the Lancet, and frequently interviewed as a global expert by NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the Financial Times, Bloomberg News, Reuters, Al Jazeera, and the Economist
Nina in the News
INTERVIEWS & NEWS
Article
Politico Pro - Morning Health Care
Pandemic preparedness
The World Health Organization has doubled down on the May 2026 deadline for an annex on the pandemic agreement. On Tuesday, we reported negotiators were starting to think about deferring some of the more detailed work until after the WHO’s assembly in May, when a deal is due.
Equity is key: It would be a mistake for negotiators to seek “consensus for the sake of consensus,” said Nina Schwalbe, senior scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics. The purpose of the PABS text was to address inequities, she said. “If obligatory benefit sharing is not achieved what is the point of the Annex?”
Article
State Forward
The World Health Organization has welcomed a pointed move by California, New York, and Illinois to join its Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, or GOARN — even as the U.S. government in Washington, D.C., steps back from the U.N. health agency.
Dr. Ben Young, an infectious disease specialist, sees a broader shift underway, with states pooling resources and, as he put it, “recreating some of the architecture of the CDC” at a regional level.
But Nina Schwalbe, senior scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics and a candidate for New York's 12th Congressional District, warns that this isn’t a substitute for national leadership. “There is no viable workaround to a functioning CDC partnering with the rest of the world through WHO,” she says.
NEWS
Nine Democrats Take the Stage - and the Fight to Succeed Nadler Begins
The two-hour forum — jointly hosted by Broadway Democrats, Hell’s Kitchen Democrats and Columbia University College Democrats — drew a crowd that packed the venue, plus another 400 viewers on Zoom. Attendees heard from Micah Bergdale, Alex Bores, George Conway, Laura Dunn, Jami Floyd, Micah Lasher, Jack Schlossberg, Nina Schwalbe and Matthew Shurka, all vying to succeed Nadler in a district that has not seen a competitive open race in decades.
Near the end of the evening, Schwalbe — a public health professional who helped lead the Biden Administration’s global vaccine effort — said she wished public health had received more attention. “Every time I sit in our subway system in New York I think, ‘We’re screwed.’ We’re not ready for the next pandemic.” If elected, she added, “I will be the only Democrat in Congress with a PhD in public health.”
