Description:
"Raj Panjabi is one of the smartest people around on health issues... and one of the best-placed people to guide us through this terrain and keep us safe." --Nicholas Kristof
Foreword by Vivek Murthy
The essential guide for navigating crisis and uncertainty from the acclaimed physician who led the White House response to the world's most dangerous health emergencies.
When crisis hits -- a sudden illness, a global disruption, or a career upheaval -- our instinct is to retreat. Yet decades of research prove that our greatest protection isn't isolation, it's connection.
From high-stakes decisions in the White House Situation Room and hospital emergency room to dramatic shocks of violence and illness his family struggled with in their own living room, Dr. Raj Panjabi has navigated humanity's most precarious moments. Now, he translates hard-earned wisdom into a step-by-step roadmap. Through gripping storytelling and cutting-edge science, Safer reveals the eight practical "plays" to protect what matters most at home and work.
You will learn how to:
Navigate Fear and Denial: Use Situation Room insights to take decisive action without falling into paralysis.
Cut Through the Noise: Use science to assess your risk and protect those you love amidst the flood of misinformation.
Build Trust in Divided Times: Move from isolation to connection and find common ground.
Gain Control Despite Chaos: Adapt to change and transform vulnerability into your greatest strength.
In an era of uncertainty, you don't have to live in fear. You just need a better playbook. Safer gives us the tools for emerging from any crisis more connected than ever before.
Brief description:
Raj Panjabi, M.D. has spent his life preparing for the crises no one sees coming, because he has lived through them. At nine years old, he arrived in America after fleeing civil war in Liberia, an experience that forged an unshakeable conviction: no one should be left behind when the world falls apart. Panjabi later served as Senior Director and Special Assistant to the President of the United States at the U.S. National Security Council. As the top health security official at the White House, he helped lead the world out of the COVID-19 pandemic and create the nation's playbook for future public health emergencies. Before joining the National Security Council, he led the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative and was founding CEO of Last Mile Health, bringing care to communities beyond the reach of any health system. As Senior Partner at Flagship Pioneering, he helps invent and build companies using artificial intelligence and biotechnology to stop disease before it starts. He is an associate physician and on faculty at Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School. Forbes has named him one of America's 250 greatest living immigrants celebrating the American Dream, and he has also been named one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World and one of Fortune's 50 World's Greatest Leaders. Panjabi lives with his wife, three children, and a legendary collection of stuffed animals.
Review Quotes:
"Raj Panjabi is a brilliant thinker and writer...This is a necessary book." - John Green, New York Times bestselling author of Everything is Tuberculosis
"Raj Panjabi is one of the smartest people around on health issues... and one of the best-placed people to guide us through this terrain and keep us safe." - Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize winning writer
"Dr. Panjabi makes the compelling case that preparedness is not enough--trust and community resilience are the core of our defense. A crucial call to action." - Anthony Fauci, Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
"SAFER makes the compelling case that only by coming together, both within and across borders, can we create a safer, healthier world." - Ambassador Susan E. Rice, former US National Security Advisor
"Dr. Raj Panjabi shows that true resilience is about community, empathy, and connection. SAFER is an inspiring road map for a healthier, more connected future." - Ariana Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive Global
"Amid declining trust in public health, Dr. Panjabi's Safer offers a clear path forward. This book blends scientific insight with a focus on trust and resilience, serving as a guide for creating communities that help each other thrive."
- Caitlin Rivers, Director of the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation, author of Crisis Averted: The Hidden Science of Fighting Outbreaks
"A powerful reminder that trust and collaboration are our most valuable assets in a pandemic. Safer captures the heart of why we need to protect communities from the ground up." - Larry Brilliant, American epidemiologist, technologist, philanthropist, and author
"Dr. Panjabi's book provides a unique, on-the-ground perspective on responses to recent epidemics, including TB, Ebola, AIDS, and COVID at a time of eroding trust in public health, science, and government officials. Safer will be critical in how we determine health, economic, and social outcomes." - Victor Dzau, President of the US National Academy of Medicine and Former President of Duke Medical Center
"Safer is an essential, eye-opening book for a troubled and dangerous age. Raj Panjabi distills a lifetime of experience dealing with crises into concrete, actionable advice for daily life. It's a roadmap for meeting our own challenges in an ever-changing world." - Adam Ratner, MD, MPH, author of Booster Shots, director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Hassenfeld Children's Hospital at NYU Langone
"Safer serves as a remarkable template for coping with the next uncertainty that will impact our world. Raj's background--from an intern in rural Alaska dealing with tuberculosis to the White House Situation Room leading the U.S. global response to COVID at the National Security Council--is an amazing story, weaving in deeply personal reflections, that illustrates his thoughtful perspectives on real crisis management." - The Honorable Fred Upton, Commissioner, Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense and Former Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. House of Representatives