As Executive Director of the Preventing Pandemics at the Source Coalition and Senior Advisor for One Health at Conservation International, Neil works at the critical intersection of human health, environmental conservation, and climate action. 

Neil brings over a decade of frontline experience, including nearly ten years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer and Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service. He deployed to Liberia in 2014 and to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019, helping contain the two largest Ebola outbreaks in history. He also led the investigation of a novel virus in the country of Georgia related to smallpox and mpox.

In 2020, Neil was tapped by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to design and lead the city’s COVID-19 contact tracing program. Under his leadership, a team of over 3,000 staff traced more than 700,000 cases, helping to curb the spread of the virus in one of the hardest-hit cities in the world.

Neil currently co-chairs the Lancet/PPATS Commission on Prevention of Viral Spillover, serves as an Associate Editor of CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. A former Presidential Leadership Scholar and adjunct professor at Columbia University, Neil continues to care for patients in a public tuberculosis clinic in New York City.

His work has earned him numerous accolades, including the USPHS Physician Researcher of the Year Award and multiple CDC honors including the James H. Steele Veterinary Public Health Award, Donald C. Mackel Memorial Award, and Alexander D. Langmuir Prize Manuscript Award. He has authored over 90 publications in leading outlets such as the New York Times, Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, The Lancet and others. In 2023, he delivered a TED Talk on how halting deforestation is essential to preventing pandemics and combating climate change.

Neil earned his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and completed his Internal Medicine residency at Columbia University. Though now based in the U.S., his global perspective is shaped by years living and working abroad, including twelve years in Saudi Arabia and three in the United Kingdom.

Outside of work, Neil enjoys training in Brazilian jiu jitsu and spending time with his beloved rescue pets.

Contact Neil.