Global Vaccine Disruption: Ensuring Equitable Access in the Era of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted attention and resources away from essential and emergency public health services, including immunization programs addressing other infectious diseases like polio, measles and tuberculosis. This suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a broad and long-lasting public health impact across a spectrum of diseases, particularly in regards to vulnerable populations and humanitarian hotspots.

During this free online event, French and American NGOs and health experts will discuss the challenges faced by governments and organizations in today’s difficult economic context as they seek to respond to COVID-19 while also addressing other public health issues.

List of panelists:

• Moderator : Dr. Pinar Keskinocak, Georgia Institute of Technology
• Carole Dromer, MD, LLM, Deputy Head of Health, International Committee of the Red Cross
• Dr. Maria Sundaram, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) Ontario
• Lisa Waddell, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, CDC Foundation

October 16, 10:00 a.m. EDT

Watch the YouTube livestream

This event is co-organized by the Consulate General of France in Atlanta, Emory University’s Center for Humanitarian Emergencies, Emory University’s Office for Global Strategy and Initiatives, and the Georgia Tech Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems.

Panelist Biographies:

• Dr Carole Dromer: Dr. Carole Dromer is a medical doctor with a master’s degree in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law. She has worked in a University Hospital in France as well as in a detention places, as rheumatologist for 15 years. She then joined the humanitarian action and has worked in crisis situations, armed conflicts and natural disasters for 20 years. She joined the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) 10 years ago attracted by the health care in detention activities. She is currently deputy head of health covering the six ICRC health programs (trauma first and prehospital emergency care, primary health care, hospital care, mental health and psychosocial support, physical rehabilitation and health care in detention), as well has the health data and the learning and development activities.
• Dr. Pinar Keskinocak: Dr. Pinar Keskinocak is the William W. George Chair and Professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the co-founder and Director of the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems at Georgia Institute of Technology. She is the lead faculty advisor for the MS Health Systems at Georgia Tech and also leads the Health and Humanitarian Supply Chain Management Professional Education certificate program. Dr. Keskinocak’s research focuses on the applications of quantitative methods and analytics to have a positive impact in society, particularly in healthcare and humanitarian systems. Her recent work has addressed a broad range of topics such as infectious disease modeling (including pandemic flu, Covid-19, malaria, Guinea worm, polio), evaluating intervention strategies, and resource allocation; catch-up scheduling for vaccinations; decision-support for organ transplant; hospital operations management; and disaster preparedness and response. She has worked on projects with a variety of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and healthcare providers, including American Red Cross, CARE, Carter Center, CDC, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory Healthcare, Georgia Department of Public Health, Grady Hospital, and Task Force for Global Health. Learn more
• Dr. Maria Sundaram : Dr. Maria Sundaram is an infectious disease epidemiologist who has been studying respiratory viruses and other vaccine-preventable diseases since 2011. Her work focuses on influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, meningococcal disease, and COVID-19. She has published 34 peer-reviewed scientific articles and is a current weekly expert contributor for the BBC World Service on COVID-19. When she is not doing epidemiologic research, she likes to play the piano, cook, and train capoeira. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at ICES Ontario.
• Lisa Waddell, MD, MPH : Dr. Lisa Waddell, MPH, is the chief medical officer (CMO) for the CDC Foundation. This is a new role for the CDC Foundation and was created to aid in the Foundation’s COVID-19 emergency response. Dr. Waddell is a preventive medicine and public health physician with over 28 years of local, state and national public health leadership experience. She has a passion for public health and is committed to promoting and protecting the health of populations. She has a particular interest in addressing the needs of vulnerable populations, needs of moms and babies, and those with disparate health outcomes.