Richard J. Hatchett, MD, is Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a partnership of public, private, philanthropic and civil organizations that supports the development of vaccines against high-priority public health threats and technology platforms to enable the rapid development of vaccines against emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Before taking on the CEPI leadership shortly after its launch in 2017, Richard was Acting Director of the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). He also served as Director of Medical Preparedness Policy on the Homeland Security Council and National Security Council. Richard holds a medical degree from Vanderbilt University and completed clinical training in internal medicine and medical oncology at Cornell and Duke Universities. In 2023, he was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine. In 2024, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oslo and was awarded The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon by the Government of Japan.