Mark Lurie speaks with the Providence Journal about his new National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research that seeks to understand how social mixing and human mobility impact pathogen spread, and how we can target behaviors that facilitate disease transmission while minimizing restrictions on human movement.
Center for Global Public Health
Date
September 26, 2023
Imagine there was a way to prevent potential pandemics by accurately predicting how they might unfold, which would enable policymakers and medical and public health officials to act to stop them long before reaching crisis stage.
Center Director Mark Lurie introduces MAPPS: the Center for Mobility Analysis for Pandemic Prevention Strategies
1
of
5
Mark Lurie looks though a stack of newly assembled MAPPS beacons
2
of
5
Jason Gantenberg and Thomas Trikalinos program a MAPPS beacon.
3
of
5
Jason Gantenberg points to a newly installed MAPPS beacon
4
of
5
The MAPPS team
5
of
5
MAPPS beacons in place in the Quiet Lounge.
The human part that determines transmission and determines epidemic potential and pandemic potential is about who mixes with who, who's coming in contact with who. We're trying to understand throughout the world how individuals mix with each other. A lot of that is about human mobility from place to place. It's about understanding the networks of flights that bring people from one part of the world to another part of the world and understanding who those people are that are moving.
Director of Brown's International Health Institute
The Providence Journal (paywalled)
RI scientists think they can predict and prevent future pandemics:
Imagine there was a way to prevent potential pandemics by accurately predicting how they might unfold, which would enable policymakers and medical and public health officials to act to stop them long before reaching crisis stage.