With spiking coronavirus cases, America is looking to measures such as COVID-19 vaccines and the first, FDA-approved rapid COVID-19 self-testing kit to lessen the numbers and to give hope as 2020 comes to a close. Still, steps such as mask wearing and social distancing remain important in the fight against the spread of the pandemic. Join The World’s Elana Gordon in this Facebook Live Q&A with epidemiologist Megan Murray, who…

Continue reading "The Coronavirus Pandemic: Surging Cases, Rapid Diagnostics, and New Vaccines"

Diagnostic vs antibody. At-home vs point-of-care collection. Sensitivity vs specificity. There is a lot to consider when testing for past or present coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, such as when to test, how to test, and which test to use. We rely on testing to paint an accurate picture of disease prevalence, but what if there’s a better strategy than the current approach? Join us for this live MJH Life…

Continue reading "Innovative Testing Strategies for COVID-19 Containment"

This 90-minute panel will examine the application of mobility data in monitoring the spread of the pandemic and informing containment policy, with a particular focus on privacy-preserving safeguards, methodological challenges, and translational barriers. Moderated by Caroline Buckee. Join the event here with the password 567899.     Panelists: Rafael Araos, MD, MMSc Assistant Professor, Clínica Alemana, Universidad del Desarrollo Greg Wellenius, ScD Professor, Dept. of Environmental Health, Boston University School…

Continue reading "Using Human Mobility Data to Inform Pandemic Response Theory and Practice"

This presentation is part of the conference "What Could Congress Do About the Pandemic By Dec 18." Join the event here. Learn more about the conference here. Conference desription: The COVID-19 pandemic is causing record levels of infections and deaths. Thousands more Americans are projected to die before the current Congress leaves for the year this month. This workshop will explore actions that Congress can take in the next three…

Continue reading "Stop spread of COVID-19 through at-home, rapid testing"

OraSure Technologies has blazed a trail in at-home diagnostic tests. Now, the Pennsylvania-based biotech company is working to produce a quick, over-the-counter coronavirus test that consumers can take in the privacy of their home with results available in minutes. NPR's Allison Aubrey reports. Hosted by CBS Sunday Morning News and features Michael Mina. Stream the segment here. Learn more about the feature here.  

Michael Mina will be featured on the show Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN to discuss his plan for widespread, rapid testing for COVID-19. Stream it live here.        

In 2020, science and democracy are both in crisis. Facts, long considered the bedrock of democracy, are increasingly questioned. At the same time, the public has lost faith in the institutions most responsible for producing reliable facts. To reflect on what this means for democracy, the Trust in Science project has convened a roundtable of four leading experts from academia and public life. Their knowledge spans the crises that have…

Continue reading "Trust in Science, Trust in Democracy"

To what extent is our future with COVID-19 knowable? As new information about the transmission, demographics, and treatment of COVID-19 emerge, epidemiologists continue to address complex data and generate new predictive models to better understand the dynamics of the virus. Join leading epidemiologists for a panel discussion as they assess the current and future state of the epidemic. This event is hosted by Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Learn more…

Continue reading "The Future of COVID-19 Epidemiology"

Compared to what we thought six months ago, the economic outlook has worsened significantly in some emerging market and low-income economies where infections are rising rapidly. Consequently, these economies, excluding China, are projected to incur a greater loss of output over 2020-21 relative to the pre-pandemic projected path when compared to advanced economies. These uneven recoveries significantly worsen the prospects for global convergence in income levels. But how are policymakers…

Continue reading "Containing COVID-19 in Developing Countries"

Last winter, the regulatory system at the FDA, the CDC and CMS delayed the ability of the United States to rapidly develop and deploy COVID-19 testing. These regulatory failures contributed to the rapid spread of COVID and led to lockdowns, and a wave of infections. This time around, the agencies could (and should) enable us to get ahead of the virus by approving rapid self-testing kits for COVID-19. The FDA…

Continue reading "Rapid COVID Tests: A Cure for Lockdowns, A Complement to Vaccines"

The goal of this upcoming event is to discuss the promises and challenges of large-scale human mobility data, and the diversity of ways it’s used to understand SARS-CoV-2 spread and the behavioral/policy responses to the pandemic. Panelists include Caroline Buckee, Andrew Schoeder, and Christophe Fraser. This event is hosted by the COVID-19 Data Forum. Learn more here. Register for the event here.  

This event will feature Michael Mina and is hosted jointly by The Forum at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and The World from PRX & WGBH. Join and learn more here. A year after Chinese health officials reported the first cluster of cases of the disease now known as COVID-19, the world struggles with a global pandemic. What will the next year bring? In this Forum Q&A,…

Continue reading "COVID-19: The Year Ahead"

This event will feature Michael Mina and is hosted by Radio El Respeto. Watch the livestream here. Everything you always wanted to know about tests and never dared to ask: Do antigen tests work? Can I get one before Christmas dinner? Are there better alternatives? Dr. Mina will be accompanied by panelists Dr. Tomás Camacho García, Fellow of the American College of Medical Toxicology, and Dr. Antonio Osuna, professor at the…

Continue reading "Special Tests (in English and Español)"

This event will feature Marc Lipsitch and be hosted by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Join the event here. With coronavirus vaccines now available, what are the timeline and prospects for "herd immunity" and return to a new normal? Marc Lipsitch of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health returns to JAMA's Q&A series with Paul Biddinger, MD, Director of Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Disaster Medicine, to discuss.…

Continue reading "COVID-19 Vaccines and Herd Immunity"