Natasha Bajema joined the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction in October 2008. Dr. Bajema currently serves as Director of the Program for Emerging Leaders (PEL). From 2010 to 2013, Dr. Bajema held a long-term detail assignment serving in various capacities in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics, Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs and in Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Dr. Bajema is a subject matter expert in nuclear nonproliferation, cooperative threat reduction and WMD terrorism.

Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Bajema was a Research Associate at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, where she supported research staff of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change established by the UN Secretary-General. She has also served as a Junior Political Officer in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch of the Department for Disarmament Affairs at the United Nations. Her publications include two co-edited volumes entitledTerrorism and Counterterrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism, both of which were published by McGraw Hill.