Bracing for Flu Season: GW Experts Available to Comment

Newswise — The worst of this year’s flu season is yet to come, and, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country is recovering from an abnormally low rate of vaccine effectiveness last winter. The George Washington University has a variety of experts who can talk about influenza, including preventive measures, public health, virus mutations and vaccination decisions.

To schedule an interview, contact GW Media Relations at 202-994-6460 or [email protected]. GW’s Flash Studio, a state-of-the-art broadcast studio, is available for remote, live or taped television and radio interviews. The studio is operated in partnership with VideoLink.

David Broniatowski, director of the Decision Making and Systems Architecture Laboratory, conducts research in decision making under risk, group decision-making, system architecture and behavioral epidemiology. Current projects include using Twitter data to conduct surveillance of influenza infection and the resulting social response.

Keith Crandall, founding director of the Computational Biology Institute, is a leading expert on viral evolution and population dynamics. He has worked extensively on the evolution of drug and vaccine resistance in bacteria and viruses. His expertise is in viral genome analysis, population genetics and evolutionary analysis using a variety of bioinformatic methods, many of which were developed by his research group.

Alexandra M. Stewart, associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, can talk about the need for health care workers to get flu shots. She can also talk about state laws that mandate that health care personnel get these shots to prevent influenza from spreading.

Below is a list of George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences experts available to comment on preventative measures, infection and treatment of the flu. Please contact Lisa Anderson at [email protected] or 202-994-3121 to interview the following doctors:

Gary Simon, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, vice chairman of the Department of Medicine, and the Walter G. Ross Professor of Medicine and of Microbiology & Tropical Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Robert Shesser, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences

Griffin Davis, chief of the section of emergency medicine administration and assistant professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Tina Choudhri, associate residency director and assistant professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences