An end to the devastating COVID-19 pandemic is finally in sight with the distribution of new vaccines. But COVID-19 is unlikely to be the last pandemic to plague the world. New variants and diseases are always arising, and some may be even more contagious and more deadly than COVID-19. How can the world prepare for an even deadlier pandemic? What reforms should be made to global health monitoring and preparedness institutions? And what lessons can we learn from the COVID-19 response so far?
Join Perry World House and the Penn Center for Research on Coronavirus and Other Emerging Pathogens for a discussion of future pandemic risk, pandemic preparedness, and the worst-case scenario of the next pandemic with virologists Frederic Bushman and Susan Weiss, moderated by the Perelman School of Medicine's Harvey Rubin.
SPEAKERS
Frederic Bushman is the W. M. Measey Professor and Chair of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bushman received his bachelor’s degree at Amherst College, and his Ph.D. at Harvard University. His research centers on host/microbe interactions, with specific projects focusing on the pathogenesis of Coronavirus and HIV, human microbiome and virome, and human genome modification. Dr. Bushman served as a Principal investigator for the Human Microbiome Project, and is a founding Principal Investigator of the PennCHOP Microbiome Program and the Penn Center for Research on Coronavirus and Other Emerging Pathogens. Dr. Bushman has published over 350 research papers (cited over 54,000 times; ISI h factor of 101) and two books.
Susan Weiss obtained her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Harvard University and did postdoctoral training in retroviruses at University of California, San Francisco. She is Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Microbiology, and Co-Director of the Penn Center for Research on Coronaviruses and Other Emerging Pathogens at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Her long-term research interest is in pathogenesis of murine and human coronaviruses, with current focus on virus interaction with the host innate immune response. Additional research interests include Zika virus-host interactions and pathogenic effects of host endogenous dsRNA.
MODERATOR
Harvey Rubin is Professor of Medicine with secondary appointment as Professor of Computer Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. The NIH, NSF, DARPA, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Discovery and the Gates Foundation have funded his basic biochemical and genetic research in infectious diseases, resulting in more than 100 peer-reviewed papers. He served on national and international scientific review panels including the NIH, NSF, NASA Intelligent Systems Program, DARPA, and The Medical Research Council, South Africa. He was a member of the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and the Dept. of Defense/National Academy of Sciences Biological Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. Dr. Rubin is the founder of Energize the Chain a non-profit organization and GAVI INFUSE and funded partner that ensures the delivery of vaccines to people in the most remote regions of the world by utilizing power and connectivity available at cell tower sites to power the refrigeration systems that are necessary to keep vaccines at the proper temperature.
