New podcast on swine flu conference June 29, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in pandemic, Podcasts, Public Health.Tags: H1N1, Marco Herrera, MSMSC
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Just uploaded the second podcast on the swine flu tracking that has been going on at ASU.
I had interviewed Marco Herrera, a researcher at the Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Science Center at ASU, as he was here one day in summer.
The podcast is on the media page of this blog. Click here to listen
Swine Flu conference wrap up June 26, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Emergency Preparedness, pandemic.Tags: H1Ni, swine flu
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How did the swine flu conference go? I have gotten a lot of feedback from different people who attended. Most of the attendees from out of state I spoke to were excited about how much they were beginning to share. Three things stood out: a sense of urgency, a greater need for collaboration, a need to work with more groups outside our line of sight.
The above photo is from an interactive decision-making exercise we conducted on the second day of the swine flu conference.
We equipped scientists and decision-makers with laptops, and took them through the scenarios laid out in the real pandemic flu exercise conducted in February this year.
To complement our coverage here and on our podcasts about the swine flu conference conducted last week, here are some media reports on the events.
- East Valley Tribune: Conference at ASU projects swine flu’s future - Mark Branom
- Newswise - Outsmarting Swine flu
- ASU Insight – Researchers meet at ASU to discuss Swine Flu strategies
Interview with Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chavez June 25, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Education, Events, pandemic, Podcasts.Tags: Carlos Castillo-Chavez, swine flu
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Last evening, I caught up with Dr. Carlos Castillo-Chavez, Regents Professor and Dir. of Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center (MCMSC).
Dr. Castillo-Chavez pulled together researchers for the swine flu conference taking place today. His research puts emphasis on the role of dynamic social landscapes on disease dispersal, and he has co-authored more than 175 publications on HIV, influenza, childhood diseases, STD diseases and addiction.
Swine Flu conference this week June 22, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Arizona State University, pandemic, Public Health.1 comment so far
This is the one event we had been working on for the past few weeks. Taking place from June 25 – 28.
Ever since the H1N1 virus made its appearance in April, researchers at ASU have been looking at what this might tell us about virus propagation, mitigation and using scientific and economic data to make better decisions.
This workshop will focus on:
- How can we apply what have we learned from previous epidemics to help slow the spread of this virus?
- How useful has past knowledge been in dealing with current outbreaks?
- What is our current state of preparedness?
- Do we have enough vaccines and antiviral drugs to treat every person that needs it in the USA? What about other countries?
Topics include the emergence of a super-strain of influenza, trans border risk assessment, how modeling informs policy-making in real time, the impact of school closures, simulation-based public health exercises … and much, much more.
More details here at the conference registration site.
Video of Wiki-Wire event with P.J. Haarsma June 15, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Events.Tags: PJ Haarsma, Wiki-Wire
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The Department of English has a video of the presentation and unveiling of the student-created wiki. We covered this event here.
Economic Summit addresses on key issues June 12, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Collaboration, Education, Events, Urban Growth.Tags: GPEC, KAET, Phoenix
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The Greater Phoenix Economic Council, held an economic summit at the Decision Theater, in response to the global financial crisis as it related to Arizona.
The event brought together business and civic leaders, members of the state legislature and educators in an open and informal dialogue to collaborate and map out the economic future for Arizona. The on-site panel of 25 thought leaders addressed questions from an online audience from 25 states and two countries, and the media.
It was very different kind of summit. Not just a pool of talking heads, but an interactive event, where the leaders looked at What-if scenarios, using the seven screens in the Drum as a digital dashboard.
- We had planned to boost the event in a few different ways.
- Using a streaming video service that renders the data on the seven screens in high definition.
The combination of both face-to-face and online exchanges proved extremely valuable; the online ‘attendees’ – more than 700 attendees from 27 states and three countries – also interacted with the on-site participants, submitting questions, and taking polls online.
- TV: For an idea of the economic issues raised, check out the TV coverage on Horizon, form the local PBS affiliate, KAET, Phoenix. Link here.
- Podcast: Listen to podcast on the event. Link here.
- Poster: Link here.
Let’s focus on pandemic level, not panic level June 12, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Media, pandemic.Tags: H1N1, pandemic, swine flu, WHO Level 6
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‘WHO Level 6,’ which refers to the highest level to be declared by the World Health Organization is meant to trigger many responses.
But just because the word ‘panic’ happens to be embedded in the word pandemic, it’s not the proper response. In fact, there’s another word that starts with P that we have been involved in, since 2008: Preparedness.
Today’s report in The Arizona Republic looks at this current WHO alert from several angles. Surveillance, vaccination and mitigation strategies for the coming fall flu season.
Solid reporting. The stuff that we ought to see more of here.
If at all, space permitting, I would have liked to see more context so readers get a sense of where we stand in Arizona:
- What is the current state of readiness –perhaps broken down by counties
- Infection and mortality comparisons between previous flu seasons
- CDC surveillance data — virological and clinical data
Not many people still understand the difference between seasonal flu and swine flu.
Diagnostic methods have changed, and the speed of diagnostic measures reduces the demand on the national stockpile of antivirals. (source: NIAID)
That’s what I mean by context. It doesn’t hurt to help people understand what ‘Arizona on Alert’ means to them. We’re busy doing just that.
Executive MBA Open House today June 11, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Education, Events.Tags: Executive MBA, W. P. Carey
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This evening, the W. P. Carey School of Business at ASU’s Executive MBA program is hosting an open house event here at the Decision Theater
Dr. Gerry Keim, Associate Dean of the MBA programs will address the invitees, followed by presentations by Dr. Ajay Vinze, Director, Executive MBA program, and Dr. Deirdre Hahn, Associate Director, Decision Theater.
Representatives from Student Services, Financial Aid are also present.
Light Bulb Moments podcasts available here! June 11, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Economy, Education, Media, social media.Tags: Barry Broome, GPEC, Jim Blasingame, P. J. Haarsma
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Follow up to yesterday’s post about uploading to iTunes.
From today, you can listen to our podcasts here. Check the Media Page.
I particularly like these two –an inside look at two events held here last week. It captures how versatile an interactive decision-making space like this could be.
Wiki-Wire: A podcast about the creative use of a learning space. How one professor (details about this event) used the immersive environment of the Drum to promote young adult fiction. He connected a student-created wiki and a larger online community with a science-fiction author.
Economic Summit: A podcast that takes you inside the planning and execution of an economic summit. The Greater Phoenix Economic Council (GPEC) hosted a multi-media interactive event (details about event) that reached out to four audiences –two of which were online.
“Moderate” pandemic, now declared a Level 6 June 11, 2009
Posted by Angelo Fernando in Emergency Preparedness, Global, pandemic, Public Health.1 comment so far
The WHO today increased the pandemic level from 5 to 6. The announcement had been anticipated for weeks.
Here’s the current H1N1 status:
- 74: Countries reporting laboratory cases of H1N1
- 28,774 : Number of laboratory cases
- 144: Number of deaths
What does this mean? On Tuesday, WHO’s Assistant Director-General Dr Keiji Fukuda, at a press conference said that the virus has not mutated, and the southern hemisphere it is exhibiting similar behavior. Some other highlights of his press conference and the official WHO announcement.
- Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO’s director general,who called H1N1 “a subtle, sneaky virus” says this is a moderate pandemic.
- A pandemic is the emergence of a new virus, so there’s very little background immunity. Disease patterns are very different, says Fukuda
- It also means that some countries are moving from ‘isolated’ spread of H1N1 to ‘sustained’ spread.
- It is not virulent, said Dr. Margaret Chan.
- The severity has not increased.
- “Our preparations have anticipated that we will at some point be at Level 6,” said Janet Napolitano in an April press conference –below.
FYI: In two weeks, Decision Theater will participate in ASU’s Swine Flu Workshop, that has gotten some international participation
