Dr. Lawler is the Director of International Programs and Innovation at the Global Center for Health Security. In 2018, he came to the University of Nebraska Medical Center following a military career in which he served as a Navy Commander and was chief of clinical biodefense research at the Naval Medical Research Center, Fort Detrick, Maryland. He was an attending physician at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and served White House assignments as Homeland Security Council and National Security Council staff, where he worked on biodefense, pandemic response, and health preparedness. Dr. Lawler has field experience treating Ebola patients in Sub-Saharan Africa, and he served as a subject matter expert in the training of Department of Defense medical personnel working with infectious diseases patients.