Strategies for Public Health Pandemics: Science, Clinical Practice, and Policy

SARS, bird flu, H1N1, Ebola, and the recent Zika virus outbreak underscore the importance of preparedness and response to infectious disease. Zika poses unique challenges, since its association to birth defects and lack of prophylactic treatment currently threaten over 60 countries. During pandemics, scientists must race to investigate virus mechanisms to facilitate early detection and effective mitigation and develop both prophylactic and treatment regimens for global health security. Resources and policies for scientific, clinical, and technological advances must be aligned to facilitate rapid understanding of viruses and transmission mechanisms, clinical practice protocols, and effective containment and treatment of the ill to minimize human, societal, and economic impacts. This session features speakers with experience in scientific and policy work on infectious diseases, vaccine immunogenicity, clinical practice, and biological-behavioral-operational modeling for public health decision and policymaking. Speakers will share scientific advances in systems biology in immunogenicity, highlighting results in yellow fever, flu, and malaria; clinical challenges; and a computational modeling decision framework that couples disease modeling with intervention strategies to minimize disease propagation and optimize containment strategies.