ROLLINS RESPONDS ROLLINS RESPONDS

By Martha McKenzie

As the world reels from a lethal new virus with no current vaccine or treatment, all eyes turn to public health for answers and solutions. Rollins is providing them.

From advising state and local officials to appearing in the media to answer questions and dispel myths, and from devising models to predict hotspots to rolling up their sleeves and calling people who might be infected, Rollins faculty, staff, and students are focusing their skills, expertise, and passion on the outbreak response. One professor is advising correctional facilities on how best to deal with infected inmates. Another has turned the pandemic into a real-time case study for his students. And another is using data from the first quarantined cruise ship to study how the virus spreads in a dense environment. That work will continue long after hospitals have discharged their last COVID-19 patients as public health professionals turn their attention to gaps highlighted by the pandemic. “We need to understand the underlying causes of the large disparities in mortality rates,” says Dean James Curran. “We must foster more transparent communication between countries and agencies. We need to evaluate our surveillance methods.

“This pandemic will be a defining moment in our careers,” Curran continues. “And I could not be more pleased with how the Rollins community is responding.”