A WSR Conversation With Candidate Nina Schwalbe in the Race to Represent the UWS in Congress

WSR: Hi Nina, let’s start here. This is your first time running for political office, why was this the right moment and right race to do so?

Schwalbe: There’s no time to waste in changing what’s happening in Washington D.C. I’m a public health expert and advocate, and on Day 1, this current administration destroyed public health, both at home and abroad. Nobody in Congress was standing up for it. We don’t have any congressional expertise in public health, so, I thought I could sit around and complain, or I could run.

I’ve run a large federal program. The COVID-19 Biden Administration program, which was a $7 billion program that distributed 500 million vaccines around the world. It was a program where we worked closely with Congress, the White House, and the National Security Council. My whole life I’ve worked with the government, so I’ve got a good sense on how it works.

Along with the public health expertise, I’ve spent a lot of my career working in foreign policy and overseas, so those are two fields that I thought we were failing at, and I thought I could lend some elbow grease.

The Race at the Center of Everything

Although the less well-known candidates (those outside of the Lasher, Bores, Schlossberg trio) will be hard pressed to accumulate a critical mass of attention between now and June 23rd, their presence on the stage was a testament to the depth of the 12th Congressional District’s talent.

Dr. Nina Schwalbe, particularly to those unfamiliar with her campaign, stole the show on multiple answers, offering interesting and nuanced perspectives on public health (a top reporter at a very influential outlet pointedly told me afterwards that Schwalbe was “impressive”).

Top Tweet

NY-12 congressional candidate Nina Schwalbe cross-country skied to West Side Rag's candidate profile this morning.

https://x.com/GusSaltonstall/status/2025963290732408850/photo/1

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?”

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.

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.”

Nina Schwalbe, public health scientist and vaccine superstar, is running for Congress.
If she wins, she will be the only Democratic member of Congress with a PhD in public health.

“I’m Nina Schwalbe, and I’m running for Congress, and I’m everything Donald Trump warned you about,” she said.

When she heard Jerry Nadler’s seat in her district, New York’s 12th, was up for grabs—she’s a sixth generation New Yorker, born and bred—Nina made a decision that not many with her background and credentials would make: she would run for Congress.

As of now, there are currently ten candidates vying for Nadler’s spot, so the issue for my friend in the short term is clear: get her name and experience out there so people know who she is and what she stands for.

ANTI-ICE IN NY-12

Several of the Democrats running to succeed Nadler showed at a Wednesday candidates forum that they’re on the same page when it comes to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics: They want ICE abolished.

“We’ve got to abolish ICE. We can’t reform it, we’ve got to abolish it,” said Nina Schwalbe, a public health researcher.

Power on display in Davos, but does dialogue wield any of it? What to expect at this week's World Economic Forum in Davos. Plus, one health leader announces her bid for U.S. Congress, while another criticizes the state of Nigeria's health system

From health to House. Nina Schwalbe, a long-time global public health leader, is running for Congress in New York’s 12th Congressional District, pitching herself as a candidate with real-world experience at a moment she says demands new leadership.

Schwalbe argues on LinkedIn that federal systems meant to keep people safe — and the guardrails of democracy itself — are under threat, and says her career fixing broken health systems has prepared her to make New York healthier, more affordable, and better prepared for what’s ahead.

Trump announces withdrawal from 66 global organisations

Several health-related organisations are targeted by the USA’s announcement, although the details of how withdrawal will work in practice are unclear.

On Jan 7, 2026, US President Donald Trump issued a presidential memorandum announcing the country’s withdrawal from 66 “organizations, conventions, and treaties [that] are contrary to the interests of the United States”. These include 31 UN and 35 non-UN organisations, several related to global health.

Reponses reflected a range of opinions, from the idea that the memo is actually of little consequence to regret and despair. Nina Schwalbe, CEO of Spark Street Advisors and Senior Scholar at Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, called it “a huge blow”.

My best friend is running for Congress

My best friend is running for Congress in New York City. These things happen.

I’ve known her more than 40 years and we’ve been close all that time. She has lived all over the world, while I’ve mostly been hunkered down in Washington DC. But our paths overlapped physically and professionally. Now, I’m following her–figuratively–on this newest adventure.

NYC public school hosts Mamdani's political pick, flouting policy

NY-12 NODS: The influential Democratic clubs of New York’s 12th District will help determine the outcome of the packed primary to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler.

Several clubs are set to cohost a candidates' forum next week.

The primary is expected to be one of the most expensive in the state.

Democrat Nina Schwalbe, Public Health Leader, Takes on DC's Political Establishment as She Files to Run in NY-12 Primary

Nina is a renowned public health leader, vaccine scientist and advocate who has focused her career on fixing broken systems so people can live better, healthier and more affordable lives.

Democrat Nina Schwalbe, Public Health Leader, Takes on DC's Political Establishment as She Files to Run in NY-12 Primary

Driven by the recklessness of the current administration and the failure of the political establishment to stop it, New York health expert and activist Nina Schwalbe has declared herself as a candidate for the open Congressional seat in NY-12.

Morning Digest: Louisville's Democratic mayor faces a rematch with progressive challenger

"The destruction of the public health system is dangerous now and it will get worse,” Schwalbe told Straus News. “I’m a lifelong New Yorker, and I think there is space for people who have experience outside elected office.”

Exclusive: Health Activist Nina Schwalbe Enters Race to Replace Congressman Nadler

"Washington is systematically dismantling our democracy, putting New York, America, and the world at risk, and Congress is failing to stop it,” says Schwalbe. “This administration is fueling disinformation, propagates false science, and has cut even the most basic services."

Exclusive: Health Activist Nina Schwalbe Enters Race to Replace Congressman Nadler

“My family has lived in District 12 for six generations. I grew up and gave birth to my two sons here. I cared for my parents as they died here. District 12 is my home,” said Schwalbe.

Exclusive: Health Activist Nina Schwalbe Enters Race to Replace Congressman Nadler

Health expert and community activist Nina Schwalbe is the latest candidate to toss her hat into the crowded race to succeed Jerry Nadler in Congress. She says the attacks on the public healthcare system by the Trump administration is a motivating factor. “The destruction of the public health system is dangerous now and it will get worse,” she warned in an exclusive interview with Straus News.

Who's Running to Replace Jerry Nadler? 10 People and Counting.

How many people does it take to fill Representative Jerrold Nadler’s shoes? Technically one, but the number of Democrats fighting to succeed him, now that he has announced that he will not seek re-election, is far higher.

Why is the US pulling out of 31 U.N. groups? And what's the impact?

President Trump's executive order to withdraw the United States from 66 international organizations, agencies and commissions is reverberating across the globe. Many people who work in the international arena are parsing the order and working to understand the implications and impact.

What’s In — and What’s Missing — in the New U.S. Strategy for Global Health

"The private sector is all over this document. There's a lot of lip service to more efficient, etc. But really, this is about outsourcing to the private sector."

Are Donald Trump and US politics bringing global health to its knees?

"Until recently, the USA provided about 30% of global health funding. It was dominant in supplying HIV/AIDS medication and funded a major part of medical research. Much of this has now stopped with Donald Trump restricting gender affirming care, withdrawing from the WHO and holding funds from USAID - and the list goes on."

Global health in crisis: a conversation with Nina Schwalbe

"The US provides 40% of international development assistance globally and about 30% in health. … The payment system has frozen, and the people who would need to turn it back on no longer work there. … There was a lot of pushback from activists that you can't stop HIV treatment midstream. … We don't have the CDC in the discussion anymore. They're not even in the room. … It's not if, it's when we have the next pandemic, and it may be here already. … These people have spent their whole life trying to make the world a better place, and in one email, they were fired."

Countries Agree on Treaty Aimed at Preventing Global Health Crises

“It shows that with or without the U.S., the world can pull together for global health, and a recognition that pandemics require global solidarity,” said Nina Schwalbe, a global health consultant who has held leadership roles in U.S. and international organizations and who followed the negotiations closely. “They pushed past their red lines and they got to agreement. That’s no easy feat for 191 states. And there’s a lot in there. It’s maybe not as strong as we wanted on many issues, but there’s lots to build on.”

WHO members reach deal on how the world would tackle future pandemics

"This is a historic moment and a show, that with or without the U.S., countries are committed to working together and to the power of multilateralism," Nina Schwalbe, the founder of global health think tank Spark Street Advisors, told Reuters.

WHO formally adopts pandemic agreement after three years of negotiation

Nina Schwalbe, the founder of global health think tank Spark Street Advisors, described the treaty as “a landmark agreement… that will make countries better prepared for the next pandemic”.

Countries reach ‘historic’ agreement to tackle future pandemics, WHO says

“This is a historic moment and a show, that with or without the US, countries are committed to working together and to the power of multilateralism,” Nina Schwalbe the founder of global health think tank Spark Street Advisors, told Reuters.

What a debt ceiling breach could mean for health care

Health care experts warn that the impact of the U.S. breaching the debt limit could be stark.

World Health Organization Urges Trump to Reconsider Exit

President makes second attempt to leave UN health agency. Experts say decision could undermine health security worldwide.