
Judyth Twigg, Ph.D.
Professor
jtwigg@vcu.edu
804.828.2076
827 West Franklin Street, Rm 316
Education
B.S. Physics, Carnegie Mellon University, 1984
M.A. Political Science and Soviet Studies, University of Pittsburgh, 1986
Ph.D. Political Science and Security Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994
Specialization
Global health, with a particular focus on Russia, Ukraine, and other parts of Eurasia; and program assessment/evaluation, especially in the areas of human development and public sector management.
Biography
Judy Twigg is a professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she teaches courses on global health, international political economy, and Russian politics. She is also a senior associate with the Global Health Policy Center and Russia & Eurasia Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies; consultant for the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank and the Office of Evaluation and Oversight of the Inter-American Development Bank; adjunct professor at the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University; and member of the board of trustees of the Eurasia Foundation. She has been a consultant for the Kennan Institute, John Snow, Inc., UNICEF, the Social Science Research Council, and various U.S. government agencies.
Twigg's work focuses on issues of health, demographic change, and health systems reform in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. She also conducts program and project evaluations for development assistance efforts world-wide spanning human development and public sector management. She has testified as an expert witness before the U.S. Congress and has been a member of several congressional and other U.S. government advisory groups on Russian affairs. She received the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia's Distinguished Faculty Award in 2005. Dr. Twigg is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Select Publications
- “Russia’s Questionable Claims Overshadow Good Sputnik V Vaccine,” Moscow Times, January 22, 2021
- “Vladimir Putin Has a Vaccine, and He’s Rushing To Share It,” New York Times, October 13, 2020
- “Can Russia’s Health and Welfare Systems Handle the Pandemic?” with Linda J. Cook, Current History, Volume 119, Issue 819, October 2020
- “Pandemic Politics in Eurasia: Road Map for a New Research Subfield,” with seventeen other authors, Problems of Post-Communism, Vol. 67, 2020
- “Russian Health and Demographic Trends and Prospects,” in Steven Rosefielde, ed., Putin’s Russia: Economy, Defense, and Foreign Policy, World Scientific Publishers, September 2020
- Center for Strategic and International Studies, Global Health Policy Center, “Trump and Putin’s Pandemic Duet: Trump’s America Is Far More out of Tune" (with J. Stephen Morrison), August 21, 2020
- Council on Foreign Relations “Think Global Health” site, “Vaccine Dreams and Russian Reality,” August 12, 2020
- Atlantic Council, Ukraine’s Healthcare System Is In Critical Condition Again, July 21, also ran in Kyiv Post, July 22, 2020
- Reforum, “Health Care Reform, Demographic Trends, and COVID-19 in Russia,” also in Russian, June 17, 2020
- Council on Foreign Relations “Think Global Health” site, “Coronavirus in Russia: First Wave, Round Two--The Regions,” June 5, 2020
- Russland-Analysen (Germany), “Sharp Increase in Coronavirus Infections in Russia,” [PDF] May 25, 2020
- Russian Analytical Digest (Zurich), “Russia and the Covid-19 Pandemic,” April 20, 2020
- Russland-Analysen (Germany), “Russia’s Health Care System and the Coronavirus” (in German), April 14, 2020
- The National Interest, “Russia’s Coronavirus Response Reveals Its Strengths and Weaknesses,” April 11, 2020
- Council on Foreign Relations “Think Global Health” site, “Coronavirus in Ukraine,” April 6, 2020
- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, “Coronavirus in Russia: How Putin’s Disinformation Efforts Could Backfire at Home,” March 31, 2020
- Kennan Institute “The Russia File” site, “What Lies Behind Russia’s Coronavirus Containment Effort,” March 24, 2020
- Center for Strategic and International Studies, “A Turning Point for Russia and HIV?” with Michael Rendelman, March 11, 2020
- Council on Foreign Relations “Think Global Health” site, “Russia’s Not Ready for Coronavirus,” March 6, 2020
- "Putin and Global Health: Friend or Foe?" (with J. Stephen Morrison), CSIS Global Health Policy Center, September 26, 2019
- "Russia Is Winning the Sanctions Game," The National Interest, March 14, 2019
- "Russia's Avoidable Epidemic of HIV/AIDS," PONARS Policy Memo No. 581, March 2019
- "Ukraine's Health Sector: Sustaining Momentum for Reform," CSIS Global Health Policy Center, August 18, 2017
- "Hope and Momentum in Ukraine," The Polio Network, June 6, 2017
- “Continued Collaboration and Vigilance against Tuberculosis in Russia,” Baltic Rim Economies, Issue 1, February 2017, p. 34
- Unique Challenges,Comprehensive Response: Polio Outbreak in Ukraine, 2015-2016, report commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/Global Polio Eradication Initiative, Kyiv/Geneva, December 2016
- "Russia Is Losing Its Best and Brightest," The National Interest, June 30, 2016
- “Polio in Ukraine: Crisis, Challenge, Opportunity,” report of the Global Health Policy Center of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, March 2016
- "Ukraine’s Real Crisis: A Demographic and Health Time Bomb" (with E. Wayne Merry), The National Interest, December 15, 2014
- Ukraine: Trends and Regional Dynamics in Population, Health, and Migration [PDF], PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo No. 344, September 2014 (PONARS is the Project on New Approaches to Russian Security, a network of American and Russian academics exploring policy approaches to security in Russia and Eurasia)
- U.S.-Russia Health Engagement: Still on the Agenda [PDF], report of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Global Health Policy Center, Washington, DC, March 2014
- "Project Performance Assessment Report for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Health Sector Management Project", World Bank, September 2013
- Russia, the United States, and Global Health: Russia Ascends [PDF] in Katherine E. Bliss, ed., The Changing Landscape of Global Health Diplomacy, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC, May 2013
- U.S. Priorities for Global Health Diplomacy [PDF] with Katherine E. Bliss and J. Stephen Morrison, in J. Stephen Morrison, ed., Global Health Policy in the Second Obama Term: A Report of the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC, February 2013
- "Russia’s Human Capital Challenges and Potential for International Collaboration", in Nicholas Eberstadt, Hans Groth, and Judy Twigg, Addressing Russia’s Mounting Human Resource Crisis, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC, February 2013
- “Kyrgyzstan: Achieving Successful Health System Reform Where Others Have Failed,” in Ellen Rosskam and Ilona Kickbusch, eds., Negotiating and Navigating Global Health: Case Studies in Global Health Diplomacy (London: World Scientific and Imperial College), 2012
- Russia’s Emerging Global Health Leadership [PDF] (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies), April 2012
- Russia’s Global Health Outlook: Building Capacity to Match Aspirations [PDF] in Key Players in Global Health: How Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa Are Influencing the Game, CSIS Global Health Policy Center, November 2010
- Project Performance Assessment Report: Lesotho Health Sector Reform Project and HIV/AIDS Capacity-Building and Technical Assistance Projects [PDF], World Bank, June 2010
- "Enhanced Project Performance Assessment Report: Kyrgyz Republic Health Reform Projects and Sector-Wide Approach", Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank, 2008
- HIV/AIDS in Russia: Commitment, Resources, Momentum, Challenges [PDF], report for the HIV/AIDS Task Force of the Global Health Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC, October 2007
- HIV/AIDS in Russia and Eurasia (New York: Palgrave/Macmillan), two volumes, January 2007 (foreword by Strobe Talbott)
- Social Capital and Social Cohesion in Post-Soviet Russia, co-edited with Kate Schecter (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe), 2003 (also published in Russian by Alpina Publishers, Moscow)
- Russia's Torn Safety Nets: Health and Social Welfare During the Transition, co-edited with Mark G. Field (New York: St. Martin’s Press), 2000.
Panel Events and Podcasts
- Fort Ross Dialogue, panel on US-Russia health collaboration, with a focus on COVID-19. Panelist and moderator, December 2, 2020
- “Authoritarian Governance and Reform in Russia,” panelist for PONARS Eurasia Fridays, October 9 (webinar)
- CSIS Global Health Policy Center, Coronavirus Crisis Update, “The Bumpy Ride of U.S. Colleges and Universities,” September 29 (podcast)
- "The Naked Pravda" (Meduza), “Russia’s Coronavirus Vaccine: Assessing the Risks and Research behind Sputnik V,” August 30 (podcast)
- CSIS Global Health Policy Center, Coronavirus Crisis Update, “Putin’s Sputnik V Vaccine: ‘Trust Us!’” August 14 (podcast)
- FiveThirtyEight, Podcast-19, “Russia Approved a COVID Vaccine,” August 14 (podcast)
- CSIS Global Health Policy Center documentary “The Plague Years,” part two of the series “Pandemic Paradox: HIV on the Edge,” released August 13 (18:45 mark)
- Asian Development Bank and Harvard’s Davis Center for Russia and Eurasian Studies, “COVID-19 Vaccine: Are Central and West Asian Countries Ready?” August 6 (webcast). Event was later summarized at factcheck.kz, one of Kazakhstan’s leading free media sites
- Georgetown School of Foreign Service, “Russia Bootcamp: The Impact of Covid-19 on Russia,” June 16 (webcast)
- Yale School of Public Health, “A Look at Russia’s Response to the Coronavirus,” June 18 (webcast)
- Harvard School of Public Health and Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, “COVID-19: Reopening – Public Health and the Economy,” June 11 (webcast)
- KennanX with Jill Dougherty, “Russia’s COVID Crisis,” May 15 (podcast)
- Kennan Institute, “COVID-19 in Russia: Social, Legal, and Medical Responses,” May 13 (webcast)
- Civil Discourse, VCU, “Russian Politics,” April 9 (podcast)
- “Of COVID-19 Measures – Or Lack Thereof – in Russia,” Russian Roulette, Center for Strategic and International Studies/Russia & Eurasia Program, April 7 (podcast)
- Atlantic Council, “How Russia Is Handling Coronavirus,” April 3, 2020 (Zoom panel discussion)
- The Moscow Times, “Russia Prepares for a Surge in Coronavirus Cases,” March 20, 2020 (podcast)
- “The Naked Pravda” (Meduza), “Russia’s Chances Against Coronavirus,” March 20, 2020 (podcast)
- Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation, “Health and Human Capital in Putin’s Russia,” February 4, 2020
Quoted in News Stories/Analyses
- La Tercera (Chile), February 12, 2021
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Moscow (video), February 13, 2021
- Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Moscow, February 11
- RFE/RL (print), February 5
- RFE/RL (video), February 4
- Washington Post, February 3
- NPR All Things Considered, February 3
- NPR The World, February 2
- The New Yorker, February 1
- NPR All Things Considered, January 26
- Moscow Times, January 14, 2021
- AP/Washington Post, others, December 16, 2020
- Cicero: Magazine of Politics and Culture (Berlin), December 12
- New Statesman, December 10
- El Mercurio (Chile), November 26
- Moscow Times, November 24
- AP/Washington Post, others, November 22
- Bloomberg Opinion, November 9
- The Telegraph (UK), October 29
- Washington Post, October 20
- Associated Press, October 18
- RFE/RL, October 15
- Bloomberg Opinion, August 14
- Observador (Portugal), August 13
- Vox, August 13
- Los Angeles Times, August 12 (also picked up in Miami Herald, Yahoo! News, Technology Times (Pakistan))
- Die Zeit (Germany), June 19
- Associated Press, June 14
- Associated Press, June 9
- Le Monde Diplomatique (France), June (English version)
- Information (Copenhagen), May 26
- EU Radio, May 20
- Bloomberg Opinion, May 18
- Time, May 15
- EU Radio, May 15
- FoxNews.com, May 14
- EU Radio, May 13
- Moscow Times, May 12
- Vox, May 6
- Vox, April 29
- Associated Press, April 28
- Foreign Policy, March 18, 2020
- Moscow Times, March 19, 2020
- EU Observer, March 19, 2020
- U.S. News & World Report, March 24, 2020
- Alternatives Economiques (France), March 30, 2020
- Vox, April 6, 2020