Christine Sandra Abizaid (born February 7, 1979)[1] is an American intelligence officer who was the director of the National Counterterrorism Center in the Biden administration.

[3][4] During her time with the team, the Tritons were California Collegiate Athletic Association and NCAA champions, and in her senior year she was saluted as "best of the best" by the UCSD Guardian newspaper.

[citation needed] In 2016, Ash Carter put Abizaid in charge of the Defense Innovation Unit in Austin, Texas.

[14] In 2022, Abizaid participated in a July 1, 2022 Situation Room meeting with President Biden to prepare for a drone strike targeting al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

[15][16][17] In subsequent testimony to Congress, Abizaid asserted that as a result of Zawahiri's death, the threat of al-Qaeda "is less acute than at any other time since 9/11," and "the most likely threat in the United States is from lone actors, whether inspired by violent extremist narratives, racially or ethnically motivated drivers to violence, or other politically motivated violence.

[19] In 2023, delivering a lecture before the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Abizaid noted that al-Qaeda has yet to publicly announce a successor following Zawahiri's death.