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COVID-19: what are the facts?
Hear from experts in public health and global security
The COVID-19 situation is of course rapidly developing. But it’s useful to get some perspective. What can we do to prepare and respond to this issue?
Since COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus) first emerged in December last year there’s been a lot of uncertainty, anxiety and misinformation. As of Thursday 12 March, the World Health Organisation has officially declared a pandemic.
On Wednesday 11 March we hosted an information session with academic experts from the University of Sydney to answer critical questions, from health facts to broader societal implications in Australia.
The panel
Adam specialises in global health security and international relations. His research and teaching explores how governments and multilateral organisations cooperate and interact when adverse health events such as disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics occur, as well as how they respond to emerging health and security challenges. Adam’s most recent research examines civil-military cooperation in health and humanitarian crises, and the correlations between gender, sexuality, health and security.
Julie Leask is professor and social scientist in the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sydney. Julie is a public health researcher focusing on vaccination and infectious disease risk communication. She has a background in public health, nursing and midwifery.
Julie is a visiting professorial fellow at the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance and advisor to the World Health Organization. She was named overall and global category winner of the 2019 Australian Financial Review 100 Woman of Influence; won the Public Health Impact Award 2019 and the Sax Institute Research Action Award in 2015
Ramon Shaban is the Inaugural Clinical Chair and Professor of Infection Prevention and Disease Control at the University of Sydney and Western Sydney Local Health District, within the Sydney Nursing School and Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity.
As a credentialled expert infection control practitioner and emergency nurse, his inter-professional expertise in infectious diseases, infection control and emergency care are the basis of a highly successful and integrated program of teaching, practice, and research.
Tania Sorrell AM is Director of the Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity (MBI) and Chair of the NHMRC’s Research Translation Faculty Steering Group on New and Emerging Health Threats.
She is an internationally renowned infectious diseases physician and medical mycologist whose research focuses on invasive fungal infections. She has a long-standing interest in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, especially in immunocompromised individuals. In 2014, she was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM), for significant service to medicine and the community as an infectious diseases researcher and adviser.
Anna is the Public Programs Manager, curating the Sydney Ideas public talks program. She has over fifteen years in media, content development and communications, and has worked as a Ministerial Media Advisor, TEDxSydney curator and General Manager for an international music company.
She started her career researching and producing for ABC television news and current affair programs, and producing internationally award-winning documentaries for Radio National. Anna holds an Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney and Masters of Business Administration from Australian Graduate School of Management at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
