Newswise — Growing Concerns Over Infectious Diseases: GW Experts Available to Comment
The last few years have brought a number of infectious diseases into the spotlight: H1N1 influenza, Ebola and now Zika virus. Experts from the George Washington University are available to discuss infectious diseases from a variety of perspectives.
To schedule an interview with the experts listed below, 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, sentiments toward vaccination 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 bioinformatics methods, many of which were developed by his research group.
Carol Lang, associate director for global initiatives and assistant professor of nursing, is an expert in international and global health. She also specializes in global diplomacy and collaboration, university-based interdisciplinary medical missions in Haiti and prevailing and emerging infectious diseases in developed and developing countries. Her current research involves the global stigma of mental illness.
Below is a list of infectious disease experts at Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University. Please contact Kathy Fackelmann at [email protected] or 202-994-8354 to interview the following experts.
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 receive these shots to prevent influenza from spreading.
Rebecca Katz, associate professor of health policy and management, is an expert on the intersection of national security and infectious diseases, including the threat posed by Ebola. Dr. Katz played a key role, along with other experts, in developing the Global Health Security Agenda, an international initiative aimed at reducing the risk posed by infectious diseases.
Julie Fischer, associate research professor of health policy and management, is an expert on disaster preparedness and infectious diseases. She co-directs a research portfolio on global health security and was also involved in the launch of the international partnership Global Health Security Agenda.
Amira Roess, assistant professor of global health, is an expert on Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Ebola and other diseases. Previously, she served as an epidemic intelligence officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where she investigated infectious disease outbreaks. She can also talk about the use of mobile technology as it is used on the frontlines of emerging epidemics.
Ronald Waldman, professor of global health, is an expert on medical infrastructure and emergency relief efforts like those to contain the Ebola or Zika outbreaks. He can also talk about the global response to Ebola, the Zika virus and other emerging infectious diseases.
Lone Simonsen, research professor of global health, is an expert on the biology, transmission and spread of infectious diseases, such as the flu. Dr. Simonsen has been actively involved in investigations of other outbreaks, including the spread of a virus that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). She is an expert on a scientific process or modeling that is used to predict how an outbreak will change in the future and can also talk about vaccines.
Below is a list of George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) experts available to comment on preventative measures, infection and treatment of infectious diseases. Please contact Lisa Anderson at [email protected] or 202-994-3121 to interview any of the following:Disease outbreak patterns/care in emergency rooms:
Robert Shesser, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and professor of emergency medicine at SMHS
Griffin Davis, chief of the section of emergency medicine administration and assistant professor of emergency medicine at SMHS Tina Choudhri, associate residency director and assistant professor of emergency medicine at SMHS
Long-term care/treatment of infectious disease:
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 and Tropical Medicine at SMHS
David Parenti, professor of medicine
Marc Siegel, associate professor of medicine
How infectious diseases start, developing future treatments:
Douglas Nixon, chair of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine and the Walter G. Ross Professor of Basic Science Research
Richard (Brad) Jones, assistant professor of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine
John Hawdon, associate professor of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine
David Diemert, associate professor of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine
Paul Brindley, professor of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine
Jeffrey Bethony, professor of microbiology, immunology and tropical medicine
RSS