Webinar: How Do Scientists Detect and Prevent Viruses with Pandemic Potential from Emerging?
Channel: Earth Journalism Network
Date: 2020-04-22

A team of researchers from the USAID PREDICT and PREEMPT projects talked about their work in Asia and Africa to strengthen surveillance and virus detection in animal and human populations considered most at-risk for disease emergence and to identify strategies and countermeasures for disease prevention and control.


Speakers:
– David Wolking currently manages the PREDICT and PREEMPT projects. He is also the senior manager for global programs at the UC Davis One Health Institute. For the past 10 years he has worked with teams of scientists around the world to investigate emerging disease threats and identify solutions to prevent the spillover and spread of dangerous viruses.

– Dr. Pranav Pandit, a veterinary epidemiologist at UC Davis with a research interest in the ecology of emerging infectious diseases. His expertise lies in the mathematical modeling of infectious diseases in wildlife, livestock and humans. Pranav's recent research investigates environmental factors associated with the distribution of zoonotic pathogens in animal populations using innovative machine learning approaches.

– Dr. Grace Mwangoka, a research scientist based at the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania. As a veterinarian and public health expert, Grace is uniquely qualified as a leader in One Health research in Tanzania and recently led the PREDICT project's surveillance for emerging viral threats in at-risk human communities in Tanzania's Lake Zone.

– James Bangura, a project coordinator with UC Davis based in Freetown, Sierra Leone. James led the PREDICT project in Sierra Leone and also coordinates the PREEMPT project. A public health professional, he is a technical expert in outbreak response and is currently supporting national COVID-19 response efforts.