Epidemiology | Penn Today

Microscopic coronavirus images superimposed over digital global map

Coronavirus models aren’t crystal balls. So what are they good for?

Epidemiologists and data scientists have been gathering data, making calculations, and creating mathematical models to answer critical questions about COVID-19, but math cannot account for the unpredictability of human behavior.

‘Disease knows no borders’

From the history of science to medical anthropology, governance, and economics, Penn experts look at the history of global health from different perspectives to see what the future may hold.

cartoon of a hand holding a magnifying glass up to a coronavirus germ

Why clinical trials during disease outbreaks may need a new approach

Scientists around the world are racing to develop vaccines and treatments for the novel coronavirus, while hoping to avoid mistakes made during the West African Ebola epidemic, in which incomplete studies led to inconclusive results.

David Roos taking a selfie while teaching a class online, with scientific materials on the screen behind him

A quick pivot turns an infectious disease class into timely education

Students in David Roos’ upper-level biology course had been studying pandemics. Now they get to learn in real time how public health scientists attempt to understand COVID-19.

A person with two dogs walking in front of an empty plaza in front of the Cathedral of San Carlo al Corso in Milan, Italy

Takeaways from an overseas epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak

John Holmes discussed the epidemiological data on COVID-19 and shared his personal perspectives on the outbreak as a visiting professor working in Northern Italy.

A reality check on coronavirus

The novel disease is serious. But risks here remain low, says Ezekiel J. Emanuel, vice provost for global initiatives, who attended a World Health Organization meeting on the subject last week.