UArizona Health Sciences To Host Virtual Symposium on Emerging Viruses and Pandemics

• What: Predicting and Responding to Emerging Viruses and Pandemics Virtual Symposium
• When: March 23 (8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.) and March 24 (9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.)
• Where: Virtual. Register at https://medicine.arizona.edu/emerging-viruses-pandemics-symposium

Pandemics are among the greatest existential threats to our society and way of life. In the last year, COVID-19 has claimed more than 500,000 lives in the United States alone. On March 23-24, national and international experts in virus emergence, infectious disease and public health will discuss how to prepare for and respond to coming pandemic threats during the Predicting and Responding to Emerging Viruses and Pandemics Virtual Symposium.

The two-day event, sponsored by the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson and the Arizona Department of Health Services' Arizona Biomedical Research Center, is free and open to the public. The first day will be moderated by Felicia Goodrum, PhD, and will focus on the science around emerging viruses, vaccines and therapeutics, and pandemic response and policy. The second day, intended for a lay audience, includes a public session moderated by Raven Baxter, an internationally known science communicator known as Raven the Science Maven, to answer questions related to emerging viruses and pandemic policy and response.

Registration is required and can be completed online at https://medicine.arizona.edu/emerging-viruses-pandemics-symposium.

Speakers include: 

Basic Science/Evolution/Emerging Viruses

• Michael Worobey, PhD, Professor and Department Head, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, UArizona College of Science
• Jesse Bloom, PhD, Evolutionary and Computational Biologist, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
• Eva Harris, PhD, Professor, Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology; Director of the Center for Global Public Health, University of California, Berkeley
• Emma Hodcroft, PhD, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern Switzerland
• Vineet Menachery, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Galveston National Laboratory, University of Texas Medical Branch
• Lynda Stuart, MD, PhD, Deputy Director, Discovery and Translational Sciences Lead, COVID-19 Vaccine Response Team, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Diagnostics/Vaccines/Therapeutics

• Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD, Associate Professor of Immunobiology, UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson
• Kizzmekia Corbett, PhD, Research Fellow, Vaccine Research Center; Scientific Lead, Coronavirus Vaccine Program; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health
• Nancy Sullivan, PhD, Chief, Biodefense Research Station; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health

Pandemic Preparedness and Policy

• Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell, PhD, Senior Vice President, Research and Innovation, University of Arizona
• Janko Nikolich-Žugich, MD, PhD, Professor and Department Head, Immunobiology; Co-Director, Arizona Center on Aging; UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson
• Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD, Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Deputy Director, World Health Organization

Epidemiology/Public Health

• Katherine Ellingson, PhD, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, UArizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
• Kacey Ernst, PhD, MPH, Professor; Infectious Disease Epidemiologist; Director of the Epidemiology Program; UArizona Zuckerman College of Public Health
• Joe Gerald, MD, PhD, Associate Professor; Program Director, Public Health Policy & Management; UArizona Zuckerman College of Public Health
• Monica Kraft, MD, Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine; UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson; Deputy Director, UArizona Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center
• Bonnie LaFleur, PhD, Research Professor of Biostatistics, BIO5 Institute, UArizona
• Karen Lutrick, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson.
• Tim Lant, PhD, Director, Program Development, Biodesign Institute; Project Manager, Compact X-Ray Free Electron Laser Project; Arizona State University

For more information and to register, visit the UArizona College of Medicine - Tucson website.