Around the Table with Mihir Kandarpa

Around the Table is a three-question interview series from the Make Room email newsletter as a part of the CNAS Make Room initiative. Each edition features a conversation with a peer in the national security community to learn about their expertise and experience in the sector.

Mihir Kandarpa is a Make Room mentee and a junior management analyst at Noblis, supporting the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) Office at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He recently earned a master of public health in global health epidemiology and disease control from the George Washington University and holds a bachelor of science in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech.

What got you interested in public health and CWMD? Can you talk about the convergence and divergence of your interests?

All my life, I have been surrounded by public health. Many of my family members are doctors and as a kid, I thought that was my calling too. It wasn’t until the Ebola outbreak in West Africa (2014–16) during my high school years when I found myself learning about what public health was from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) “disease detectives.” A few years later, the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the tail end of my first year of undergrad at Georgia Tech and reshaped the rest of my time there. I joined different student organizations in the health and well-being space, worked with our campus departments on COVID mitigation initiatives, and sought internships in the public health domain. I was fortunate to intern at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, and the Pan-American Health Organization. It was through these experiences that I realized I was interested in global health security, which ultimately focuses on strengthening health systems to improve prevention and preparedness against health threats.

I began my master of public health at George Washington University in D.C. hoping to work in the global health security space; an internship at the CDC’s Washington Office and subsequently at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s CWMD Office strengthened that desire but also opened me up to the CWMD world. In many ways, my interests in both public health and CWMD are shaped by a desire to invest in preparedness and to mitigate threats to the shared health of people, animals, plants, and the environment (“one health” in the public health lingo). I’m drawn to both these fields because investing in public health and CWMD efforts is necessary for global security, yet often deprioritized. There is never a dull moment in public health and in CWMD, and that keeps me motivated and dedicated every day I get to do this work. As my career progresses, I hope to continue bridging these two fields in my work.

Why do you do what you do? What motivates you in your career?

I have always been mission driven, and I have been fortunate to find public health, which has helped me develop a clear—albeit ambitious—goal to safeguard the health and well-being of every person. Our individual and community health is influenced by every system and every institution we engage with, from our transportation networks to our education. I am fascinated by how all these systems interact and impact our health. My desire to improve health and well-being globally keeps me driven to tackle these issues.

Staying connected to the communities that I am a part of has also had a profound impact on keeping me going in this field. The friends and colleagues I have made in the public health space have helped me grow as a professional and as an individual and inspire me to work harder to safeguard and promote our collective well-being.

Finally, the ever-changing nature of public health issues excites me. Every day there is a new topic or issue to learn about and that has motivated me to continue working in the health security space. Whether it’s health system financing or a new infectious disease threat, there is never a dull day in the field and that pushes me to keep working in public health. And it’s what will keep me motivated as I advocate for strengthening health security as a core aspect of U.S. national security and to achieve global security.

What gives you hope for the future?

In recent times, and 2025 in particular, it has been challenging to be hopeful about the future. We have seen so many changes in the public sector, as administration priorities have shifted over the past year away from prevention and public health efforts. Each day seems to bring more issues to address, and while it can be overwhelming, I see this as an opportunity to change systems for the better—and that gives me hope for a brighter tomorrow.

What also inspires me is seeing friends and colleagues showing up every day, still working to drive change amid constant uncertainty and with limited resources. Even as health and development financing has decreased significantly, they are still working tirelessly to further their missions and deliver for communities. That dedication of every person working to effectuate positive change gives me hope for the future.

I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that the scale and scope of challenges we face as a nation and a global community is often overwhelming. However, every day I remind myself of all the good work that has been done in the past during equally—if not more challenging—times, and use the successes of the past and the present (big and small) to inspire me.