This Friday, CSDE will host a panel on the coronavirus and its implications. The panel will consist of CSDE affiliates from various disciplines. Here is the line-up of panelists:

• Ann Bostrom, UW Evans School of Public Policy and Governance
• Nicole Errett, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences at the UW School of Public Health
• Steven Goodreau, UW Department of Anthropology

CSDE Affiliate Martina Morris was quoted in a NYT article about how the novel Coronavirus infection spreads and why some people are more infectious.  Morris points out in the article that there are two factors at play.  “There has to be a link between people in order to transmit an infection, … while that link is necessary it is not sufficient.” The second factor is how infectious is a person.  We rarely have independent data on those two factors, which can lead to misattribution and substantial social risks.

With official social distancing measures implemented, people are witnessing their many implications—from the economy to healthcare. Also implicated is education with students and educators bearing significant burdens. CSDE Affiliate LaShawnDa Pittman was featured in The Seattle Times in a recent article on the challenges of teaching college courses online. Pittman is an assistant professor of American Ethnic Studies, where her classes are smaller and require a sense of community among students. This kind of learning environment faces special challenges in an online venue. For example, her 18-student seminar-style class on health disparities and African American women this quarter is specifically designed for intimate discussion.

Last week, CSDE Affiliate Ali Mokdad discussed the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s (IHME) Covid-19 prediction models for multiple news sources such as a segment on KIRO Radio’s My Northwest, FOX 9 KMSP, and WMFE Radio. In the My Northwest segment, Mokdad explains how, for the first time, the models are beginning to predict that mortality rates will start to slow and that “the worst is behind us as a country…” A key reason for this prediction is a function of how the model is incorporating the impact of social distancing, and how thousands of individuals in the US starting distancing before official measures were in place. Mokdad is now working on a new “model detailing when we can reopen the economy."

In November 2019, the National Institute of Health (NIH) issued a new statement on diversity that will be included on all FOAs effective immediately. This diversity statement was informed by a literature review, the reports and deliberations of several internal NIH committees, as well as input from Institute and Center officials, program staff and external stakeholders. The NIH overview statement follows: 

Every facet of the United States scientific research enterprise—from basic laboratory research to clinical and translational research to policy formation–requires superior intellect...