Schedule

Schedule and Speakers

Friday, December 6

5:00-6:00 Registration and Welcome Reception for In-Person Participants

6:15-6:45 Opening Remarks

  • Charles (Charly) Lockwood, MD, Executive Vice President of USF Health, Dean of USF Health Morsani College of Medicine
  • Amber Gum, PhD, Professor, Department of Mental Health Law & Policy and Department of Internal Medicine, Co-Chair of USF HxA Campus Community, USF

USF Health Executive Vice President Lockwood will provide an overview of the importance of the topics and goals of the conference. Dr. Gum will orient participants to the HxA Way and Heterodox Conversations™ format.

6:45-8:15 Opening Panel: “COVID-19 Conversations: Setting the Stage”

Drs. Bhattacharya and Vermund will set the stage for the conference, discussing key topics from their perspectives regarding COVID-19 science, application of science to health policy and decision-making, impacts of past decisions, and important considerations for the future.

Saturday, December 7

8:00-8:15 Welcome

Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, Distinguished Service Professor, Public Health, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Industrial Engineering; Interim Dean, USF COPH; Senior Associate Vice President, USF Health; Senior Associate Dean, Morsani College of Medicine, USF Health

8:15-9:30 Panel 1: “SARS-COV2 Origins: Lab Leak or Natural Origins?”

  • Speaker 1: Alina Chan, PhD, Scientific Advisor, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
  • Speaker 2: Andrew Dobson, PhD, Professor, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University
  • Panelist: Christian Bréchot, MD, PhD, Assistant Vice President, Senior Associate Dean for Research, Morsani College of Medicine, USF Health; President, Global Virus Network
  • Panelist: Thomas Unnasch, PhD, Director, WHO Collaborating Center for Onchocerciasis Diagnostics, Emeritus Professor, USF COPH
  • Moderator: Lynn (Marty) Martin, PhD, Professor, USF COPH

SARS-COV2, as with most and perhaps all other human pathogens, very likely derives from some animal source. The question endures, however: was that source an animal held for food in a wet market in Wuhan, China, or an accidental release from a research lab?

9:30-10:45 Panel 2: “Modeling and Mitigation Measures”

  • Speaker 1: Tracy Beth Høeg, MD, PhD, Physician and Epidemiologist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Associate Professor, University of Southern Denmark
  • Speaker 2: Kami Kim, MD, Professor and Director, Infectious Disease and International Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, USF Health
  • Panelist: Edwin Michael, PhD, Professor, College of Public Health, USF Health
  • Panelist: Michael Teng, PhD, Associate Professor, Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, USF Health
  • Moderator: Kristopher Kaliebe, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, USF Health

Since the emergence of SARS-COV2, there has been scientific and public policy debate on how to mitigate its impact. With the advantage of hindsight and data gathered, experts will discuss and critique the medical and epidemiological response to the pandemic. What were and are the most prudent approaches to mitigating disease? What have we learned to manage COVID as a now endemic pathogen?

10:45-11:15 Morning Break

11:15-12:30 Panel 3: “Policy Decisions and Implications”

  • Speaker 1: Martin Kulldorff, PhD, Drhc, Epidemiologist, Biostatistician, Founding Fellow, Academy for Science and Freedom, Hillsdale College
  • Speaker 2: Donna Petersen, ScD, MHS, CPH, FAAAS, Professor, College of Public Health, USF Health
  • Panelist: Sten Vermund, MD, PhD, Anne M. R. Lauder Professor of Public Health, Yale University, incoming Dean of the USF College of Public Health
  • Panelist: Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, Distinguished Service Professor, Public Health, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Industrial Engineering; Interim Dean, USF COPH; Senior Associate Vice President, USF Health; Senior Associate Dean, Morsani College of Medicine, USF Health
  • Moderator: Amber Gum, PhD, Professor, Department of Mental Health Law & Policy and Department of Internal Medicine, Co-Chair of USF HxA Campus Community, USF

The COVID pandemic presented us with highly consequential policy decisions, but also incomplete information to guide these decisions that affected the global population. How did policymakers use and sometimes misuse science to make decisions for their institutions and the public? How did ethical principles in science (e.g., minimizing harms and maximizing benefits; respecting human dignity and autonomy; taking special precautions with vulnerable populations; and distributing benefits and risks fairly) conflict and inform decision-making?

12:30-1:30 Lunch Break

1:30-2:45 Panel 4: “Science Communication, Evidence, and Accountability”

  • Speaker 1: Eric Winsberg, PhD, Professor, Department of Philosophy, USF; British Academy Global Professor, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge
  • Speaker 2: Joshua Scacco, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Communication; Director, Center for Sustainable Democracy, USF
  • Panelist: Jason Salemi, PhD, MPH, FACE, Professor, College of Public Health, USF Health
  • Panelist: Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, Professor, Health Policy, Stanford University
  • Moderator: Stephen Turner, PhD, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Philosophy, USF

A fundamental conflict has emerged since, and because of, COVID over science communication: how should the uncertainty that always exists in science be communicated to the public and used to justify policy? The view of some science communicators is that uncertainty should never be addressed. To do so invite such things as vaccine hesitancy in a public health emergency, conspiracy theories, and proliferation of misinformation. Others argue that this approach endangers, politicizes, and undermines the legitimacy of science. The problem of evidence poses related questions about authority: who is justified in making decisions in the face of radical uncertainty? The response to COVID provides a master class in these conflicts.

2:45-3:00 Afternoon Break

3:00-4:30 Panel 5: “Where Do We Go from Here?”

  • Panelists: Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, Alina Chan, PhD, Tracy Beth Høeg, MD, PhD, Martin Kulldorff, PhD, Charles Lockwood, MD, Sten Vermund, MD, PhD, Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD

  • Moderators: Amber Gum, PhD, Kristopher Kaliebe, MD, Lynn Martin, PhD, Stephen Turner, PhD

The day will conclude with an open discussion among panelists and the audience. The goal is to synthesize lessons learned across all dimensions of the pandemic and identify important unresolved issues for future inquiry. What should we do the same, and what should we do differently to prevent and manage future public health events? What can we extrapolate from COVID experiences to improve communication, science, and public policy related to other contentious issues our society – and world – are facing?

4:30-4:45 Concluding Remarks

Charles (Charly) Lockwood, MD, Executive Vice President of USF Health, Dean of USF Health Morsani College of Medicine