The essential guide for navigating crisis and uncertainty from the acclaimed physician who led the White House response to the world’s most dangerous health emergencies.
When crisis hits — a sudden illness, a global disruption, or a career upheaval — our instinct is to retreat. Yet decades of research prove that our greatest protection isn’t isolation, it’s connection.
From high-stakes decisions in the White House Situation Room and hospital emergency room to dramatic shocks of violence and illness his family struggled with in their own living room, Dr. Raj Panjabi has navigated humanity’s most precarious moments. Now, he translates hard-earned wisdom into a step-by-step roadmap. Through gripping storytelling and cutting-edge science, Safer reveals the eight practical “plays” to protect what matters most at home and work.
You will learn how to:
Navigate Fear and Denial: Use Situation Room insights to take decisive action without falling into paralysis.
Cut Through the Noise: Use science to assess your risk and protect those you love amidst the flood of misinformation.
Build Trust in Divided Times: Move from isolation to connection and find common ground.
Gain Control Despite Chaos: Adapt to change and transform vulnerability into your greatest strength.
In an era of uncertainty, you don’t have to live in fear. You just need a better playbook. Safer gives us the tools for emerging from any crisis more connected than ever before.
Raj Panjabi, MD, is one of the world’s leading experts in health care, public policy, and pandemics. He has spent the last two decades on the ground studying epidemics and community health around the globe and creating groundbreaking strategies to keep us safer in increasingly dangerous times. Dr. Panjabi is on faculty at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He served in the Biden-Harris Administration (2021-2023) in roles focused on pandemic response and public health. As White House Senior Director and Special Assistant to President Biden, Panjabi served as the top pandemic and health official at the National Security Council.
Dr. Panjabi is regular guest and expert on television and radio, and is asked both to offer editorials and expertise to leading newspapers, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, and others. Dr. Panjabi lives in Washington, DC, with his wife Amisha, their three children, and a huge amount of stuffed animals.
Dr. Panjabi will be in conversation with Dr. Vivek Murthy. Dr. Murthy served as the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States. As Vice Admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, he commanded a uniformed service of 6,000 public health officers. Dr. Murthy’s service as the “Nation’s Doctor” has widened the lens through which we understand the forces shaping our health and well-being, particularly the epidemic of loneliness, mental well-being among youth, parents, and in workplaces, and the impact of social media on youth mental health.
Following his tenure as Surgeon General, Dr. Murthy founded The Together Project, an initiative to prioritize social connection and community building in America. As part of this effort, he hosts Staying Human, a podcast and Substack community exploring how we can live truly fulfilling lives—grounded in belonging, joy, and meaning —while grappling with a world where powerful forces, especially technology, are edging out the very qualities that make us human: our relationships, our compassion, and our commitment to the common good.
Dr. Murthy is the author of the New York Times best-seller “Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World.” His 2025 “Parting Prescription to America,” published as his last act as U.S. Surgeon General, lays out his vision for rebuilding community as the key to health, happiness, and fulfillment.
Raised in Miami and an ardent lover of mangoes, Dr. Murthy graduated from Harvard College and received his MD from the Yale School of Medicine and his MBA from the Yale School of Management. He trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Murthy lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Dr. Alice Chen, and their two children.