Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Donell Harvin is a public health and weapons of mass destruction expert from Washington, DC who provides analysis for MSNBC/NBC News and CNN news. In his capacity as a Visiting Scientist, he oversees the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and Radiological (CBRNE) training program. He has deployed on several mission to Ukraine in 2022 with HHI to engage in capacity-building activities related to CBRNE.

He serves as graduate faculty at Georgetown University teaching disaster management, countering weapons of mass destruction, (CWMD) and homeland security. Often called upon to provide expert testimony and advice to the United State Congress, he also serves as a subject-matter expert for several organizations including the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and INTERPOL’s CBRNE Directorate, and the RAND Corporation.

His public health background spans over 30 years and includes both operational and executive roles in public health emergency planning and response, EMS, homeland security and domestic intelligence. He holds graduate degrees in environmental science, emergency management and terrorism studies.