Events
Events
On 26 April at 12:00 PM ET the Pandemic Center will host a webinar titled H5N1: Gauging the Current Threat.
On 10 April, the CDC put out a Health Advisory Network message noting a human case in the United States of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1), which had already reached US livestock, infecting cows in 9 different states. While advising that the risk to the public is low, the CDC, FDA, USDA, and state health departments are continually monitoring those exposed to sick animals.
In this webinar, the Pandemic Center will convene a group of experts to discuss the potential impact of H5N1 and strategies to prevent and respond to negative outcomes.
This event will be hosted by Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Pandemic Center. The panel will include:
- Mary-Margaret A. Fill, MD, MPH, Deputy State Epidemiologist, Tennessee Department of Health
- Gerald W. Parker, DVM, PhD, Associate Dean for Global One Health at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University
- Lauren Sauer, MSc, Associate Director of Research at the UNMC Global Center for Health Security and Director of the Special Pathogen Research Network
For Review
April 3, 2024: Anonymous Sister Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Granoff Center for the Creative Arts | Presented by the Brown Arts Institute and the the Pandemic Center
“AN INTIMATE LOOK AT WHO WE SEE AT THE HEART OF ADDICTION.” – NPR
When a young woman turns to the camera for refuge, she ends up with a firsthand account of what will become the deadliest man-made epidemic in United States history. Thirty years in the making, Anonymous Sister is Emmy Award®-winning director, Jamie Boyle’s chronicle of her family’s collision with the opioid epidemic.
The screening was followed by a panel and community discussion with filmmaker Jamie Boyle, addiction specialist Dr. Josiah “Jody” Rich, and epidemiologist Dr. Alexandria Macmadu.
Jamie Boyle is a two-time Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker living in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has played at Sundance, Tribeca, and SXSW. Most recently, Boyle wrote and edited Breaking The News, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and currently airs on PBS. Her feature directorial debut, Anonymous Sister, was shortlisted for the 2023 IDA Best Documentary Award and opened to critical acclaim in theaters June 2023. Produced by Big Mouth Productions (Dick Johnson Is Dead) and Vulcan Productions (Summer of Soul), Boyle directed, filmed, and edited Anonymous Sister, a chronicle of her family’s collision with the opioid epidemic that spans over three decades.
Dr. Josiah “Jody” Rich, MD, MPH is a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Brown. Rich is a practicing infectious disease and addiction specialist providing care to patients at The Miriam Hospital and the Rhode Island Department of Corrections since 1994. He has advocated for public health policy changes to improve the health of people with addiction, including improving legal access to sterile syringes and increasing drug treatment for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated populations. More recently he has focused on addressing the opioid overdose epidemic. Rich has testified in congress multiple times and served as an expert advisor to the Rhode Island Governor’s Overdose Task Force since its inception in 2015.
Dr. Alexandria “Alex” Macmadu, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and a member of thePeople, Place and Health Collective (PPHC) at Brown. Macmadu is a substance use epidemiologist and her program of research: (1) examines the social determinants of drug use and overdose; (2) investigates evidence-based approaches to mitigate drug-related harms; and (3) advances justice and health equity in marginalized subgroups, including BIPOC communities, people who use drugs, and persons affected by the criminal legal system. Macmadu is a multi-Brown alumna, having received her PhD in epidemiology (’22), her MSc in behavioral and social sciences (’15), and her BA in ethics (’14).
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Anonymous Sister
94 minutes / USA / 2023
https://www.anonymoussister.com/
“Searing, achingly personal… an impressive feat of editing.” – Roger Ebert
“An authenticity and personal investment that few films on this subject could match.” – Film Threat
“A full-on cinematic disquisition on the terrible, rippling side effects and consequences of the pharmaceutical industry’s greed, which in turn reflects capitalistic rapaciousness more broadly.” – Golden Globes
Pandemics & Society
3/22/24 - From Outbreak to Endurance: A Four-Year Journey Through the Covid-19 Pandemic and Toward Sustainable Health Security
Pandemics & Society
02/27/24 - Health Equity in Pandemic Response: Lessons from Rhode Island
Pandemic Center Interview: Reed V. Tuckson M.D., FACP
Pandemic Center director Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, and Reed V. Tuckson M.D., FACP, managing director of Tuckson Health Connections, LLC, discussed his work, the impact of the COVID pandemic on public health, and the importance of rebuilding trust in science.
Tuckson Health Connections, LLC, is an organization dedicated to promoting health and preventing disease through innovative approaches in data analytics, care delivery efficiency, telehealth and biotech. Dr. Tuckson is also a co-founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID, leading efforts to combat the recent pandemic in Washington, D.C. and across the country.
See this page for key takeaways from Dr. Tuckson.
February 5, 2024
The second installment of the Pandemic Center’s “Our Storied Health” series highlights environmental injustice in the American South, and explores the potential of storytelling to advance public health.
Read the full article about this event from the Brown University School of Public Health.
Mossville: When Great Trees Fall
55 minutes / USA / 2019
http://www.mossvilleproject.com/
Pandemics & Society
01/24/24 - AI Rewards, Risks, and the Future of Biosecurity by Design
Strengthening Capabilities to Manage and Respond to Biological Threats
Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa (G7-led Global Partnership and Africa CDC) and the University of the Witwatersrand
Venue: 1.6.1 – 1.6.4 Cape Town International Convention Centre 1
Date: Friday, 15th December 2023 Time: 07:00 – 09:00 am SAST
In the context of a major push to finalise a WHO convention on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, a convening to provide an update on the implementation of the Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa supported initiatives in the domain of biosecurity and biosafety and the socialization of a policy brief on Strengthening Capacity and Capability for the Identification, Attribution and Consequent Management of Accidental and Deliberate Pathogen Releases in Africa. The 2-hour long convening will be organized into 3 sessions with presentation and discussion slots, bookended by opening and concluding remarks.
Co-Chairs: Zeblon Vilakazi (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa); and Yenew Kebede (Africa CDC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia).
Free for registrants of the ASLM conference, day visitors can attend for a fee.
Pandemics & Society
11/16/2023 - Better Testing Now: A new Testing Playbook to aid planning & mitigate harms from biological emergencies
Original event description follows:
Our Storied Health Film and Media Series is a year-long integrated media experience that illuminates the importance of our collective health and what can be done to enhance it. The series, curated by Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Pandemic Center at the Brown School of Public Health and Dr. Jennifer Galvin ’95, an epidemiologist and documentary filmmaker, opens with a screening of “Shot in the Arm,” a film by Scott Hamilton Kennedy.
Through film screenings, campus conversations, and how-to workshops, this series showcases the power of storytelling as a public health intervention. The Series is curated by Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, Director of the Pandemic Center of the Brown School of Public Health, with epidemiologist and documentary filmmaker
Dr. Jennifer Galvin ’95.
Scott Hamilton Kennedy (THE GARDEN, FOOD EVOLUTION) had begun investigating the global measles epidemic. It was long before anyone had heard of COVID-19. He was filming with top public health officials–including Tony Fauci–as well as rare interviews with anti-vaccine activists who were persuading parents by the millions to refuse vaccines for their children. Then COVID-19 happened. Acting quickly, Kennedy shifted his directorial eye to this once-in-a-century tragedy. Both skeptical and hopeful, SHOT IN THE ARM explores vaccine hesitancy historically and in the context of our modern pandemic. Can we replace cynicism with healthy curiosity and bridge the political divides that make us sick?
Our Storied Health Film and Media Series will include film screenings, campus conversations, and how-to workshops to showcase the power of storytelling as a public health intervention. The screening will begin with a panel discussion and a reception will follow.
Registration (free) is required.
This event is part of Brown Arts IGNITE Series.
Our Storied Health
10/30/23 - Panel Discussion with Jennifer Nuzzo, Jennifer Galvin, and Maggie Fox on narrative and communication in public health.
Pandemics & Society
10/20/23 - Climate Chaos and Its Tolls on Health Systems
Pandemics & Society
9/28/23 - The Road Ahead: Next Steps after the UN General Assembly
Pandemics & Society
6/28/23 - Another Species of Trouble: Khartoum, Lab Seizure and Upscaling Biosecurity
Pandemics & Society
5/17/23 - Health Systems Resilience During COVID-19: Cross-Country Lessons for Future Public Health Emergencies
Pandemics & Society
5/4/23 - Vaccine Manufacturing in Africa
Pandemics & Society
3/24/23 - American Democracy and Pandemic Security
Brown SPH - Climate & Health
2/6/23 - Will climate change cause the next pandemic?
Pandemics & Society
2/17/23 - The Urgency of Protecting Older Americans and Nursing Homes against COVID-19
Pandemic Center Launch Event
10/12/22 - "Pandemic-Proofing the Future" Kick-Off featuring a lecture by Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH and Beth Cameron PhD, followed by a Q&A session.