GIDEoN: A Vision for Ending Pandemics with Dr. Ian Lipkin

MUMBAI:
As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, the most important question for us all remains, how can we end this crisis and ensure that we can prevent the next one? Dr. Ian Lipkin, famously known as the ‘Virus Hunter’ due to his groundbreaking techniques for identifying viral agents, has found an answer to this question.

On July 8, 2020, Dr. Lipkin will walk us through a novel program with the potential to completely change the way we approach the fight against infectious disease as he delivers the Third Yusuf Hamied Distinguished Lecture, ‘GIDEoN: A Vision for Ending Pandemics’ hosted by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Speaking about this issue, Dr. Lipkin, John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and the Director for the Center of Infection and Immunity with the Columbia Mailman School, said, “I think we are seeing these [health crises] much more frequently because of factors like deforestation, population migration, international trade and travel and climate change. All of these are changing the rate at which they appear “. GIDEoN (Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology Network) is a public health startup for early detection and containment of pandemic risk with the potential to address this crisis in the 21st century globalized economy. It aims to provide inexpensive, rapid tools for diagnosis discovery, identify and prioritize infectious agents based on pandemic risk, and share data for the production of vaccines to overcome current and future pandemic crises.

This webinar is part of a larger initiative to advance science, improve public health outcomes in India and train the next generation of public health leaders through research grants, enabled by a generous gift from the distinguished philanthropist, Dr. Yusuf Hamied of Cipla. Since 2018, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and the Columbia Mailman School have collaborated on the Yusuf Hamied Fellowships that are awarded annually for three research residencies in India to public health faculty at the Columbia Mailman School and to three faculty members in Indian educational institutions for short-term residencies at the Columbia Mailman School. According to Dr. Ravina Aggarwal, Director of Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai, “Public health research is critical in helping us address infectious diseases and ensure that the benefits of scientific solutions are accessible to all.”