Kara Marshall
Ms. Kara Marshall serves as the Program Manager for the University of Texas Medical Branch’s (UTMB) Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) Program. In this role, she leads the development, expansion, and operationalization of complex preparedness initiatives, with a proven ability to build programs from the ground up and scale them to meet evolving regional and national needs.
Ms. Marshall has extensive experience piloting innovative projects and translating them into sustainable, high-impact programs that enhance healthcare system readiness. Her work focuses on strengthening coordination, infrastructure, and response capabilities for high-consequence infectious diseases, with a strategic emphasis on long-term program growth, cross-sector collaboration, and measurable outcomes.
She is actively engaged in special pathogen preparedness initiatives across HHS Region 6, where she partners with healthcare coalitions, public health agencies, and federal stakeholders to advance regional readiness and resilience.
Ms. Marshall holds a Master of Public Health from Boise State University and a Certificate in Public Health Emergency Management from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. She is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration at Texas A&M University, further strengthening her expertise in program strategy, leadership, and organizational development.
Human Systems Under Pressure: Human Impacts on Critical Infrastructure
Speakers
Marc Glasser
Marc Glasser, MS, is a practitioner-scholar focused on critical infrastructure protection, institutional technology governance, and decision-making under uncertainty in high-consequence environments. He is Founder and Principal of Emissary LLC, where he provides executive advisory in enterprise security, critical infrastructure protection, emergency management, and operational resilience. He serves in an advisory board capacity with Ro&, an AI-native physical risk intelligence software company, where he focuses on decision governance, operational integration, and accountable use of AI-enabled analytics. He also serves as Senior Advisor to BioTone Biometric Authentication Corporation, advising on biometric authentication strategy, enterprise adoption, and regulatory considerations for mission-critical environments. Previously, Glasser served as Chief of Chemical Security for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Region 10. Earlier roles included infrastructure protection leadership within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and service as a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of State, where he worked in more than 90 countries, including protective service for three U.S. Secretaries of State. He teaches graduate courses in emergency management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and holds a Master of Science in Crisis and Emergency Management from UNLV and a Bachelor of Science in Law Enforcement and Police Science from Sam Houston State University. Glasser is the creator of the Context Intelligence™ framework for institutional technology governance and a published author whose work spans SAGE, Springer, and the Journal of Emergency Management.