Past and Future Assembly Speakers on the Coronavirus

By Minseo Kim

A biomedical pioneer. A forensic scientist. Authors, spoken word poets and public health professors. In fall and winter terms of 2019 alone, the Academy has brought in many accomplished and influential speakers to present their experiences at biweekly assembly events for students and faculty. While the COVID-19 pandemic is currently impacting Academy life in drastic ways, it is also affecting various professions across the world. Some of the Academy’s assembly speakers and alumni explained their take on the coronavirus to The Exonian. 

There are several factors that can contribute to an individual’s experience during this pandemic crisis: geopolitical location, personal opinions, adaptability with technology, accessibility to a good indoor workplace, and so on. There are also many takeaways to have from this outbreak. Three past assembly speakers and one future speaker shared their viewpoints about the current COVID-19 pandemic situation: Julie Livingston, Ken Ilgunas, Henry Lee, and Michael Fossel.

Julie Livingston

Julie Livingston is an American public health historian, anthropologist and a current professor at New York University who spoke at the Academy on Oct. 18, 2019. She commented on how grateful she is to stay healthy, safe and employed amidst the pandemic. Professor Livingston, like many other scholars of public health, voiced concerns about the shortcomings of the United States’ response to the pandemic.

As a university professor, Livingston has moved her classroom environment onto the Zoom network. She lamented the ramifications of the pandemic on education, such as prevalence of the digital divide, many students’ lack of internet services or materials and the difficult transition from face-to-face spontaneous discussions to a fully online meeting. “I don’t think any of us know yet how long this will last, and therefore what kinds of long term effects it will have on student progress,” she said. 

In addition, she commented on the political issues surrounding COVID-19. Although several countries have been able to follow through with classic methods of testing, contact tracing and isolating, to limit the spread of the virus, the United States does not have enough supplies for front line workers like hospital nurses, Amazon warehouse employees and city bus drivers.

Livingston believes that the US federal government’s lack of action has contributed to the severity of the pandemic’s effect in America. “Americans rightly celebrate the work of our scientists, but we need systems, infrastructure and policy to distribute scientific goods to the public … This [failure by the federal government] is furthered by the isolationist stance that our government has taken towards other countries and the WHO,” Livingston said.

Livingston emphasizes the need for long-term action, and reminds us that even before the pandemic the United States was in need of reform. She supports the opportunity for economic rebuilding and keeps in mind the importance of reintegrating struggling workers back into the workforce and a possible implementation of the Green New Deal.

 The coronavirus, Livingston argued, is an opportunity to reflect on what society accepted as “normal” before the pandemic: infernos raging through Australia, Californian droughts, etc. “Normal is agribusiness and the petrochemical industries that have helped to foster the diabetes, asthma, cancer and other chronic illnesses that leave people so vulnerable to COVID-19,” she said. “In New York City where I live, normal is one in every ten public school kids homeless.”

Ken Ilgunas

Author and environmental journalist Ken Ilgunas spoke at assembly about his travel experience on Sept. 27, 2019. His family of three lives in Scotland but currently resides in rural North Carolina, unable to leave after the lockdown notice. During the quarantine, Ilgunas, his wife, and their six-month-old child—who currently enjoys sitting on blankets under the trees—are enjoying the natural woodlands. He mentioned that it seems to be a lucky trade-off with their cramped apartment flat back in the U.K. Ilgunas commented on how many governments have responded well to humanitarian obligations during the outbreak.

Ilgunas feels encouraged by the action taken by individual countries to slow the spread of the virus. “[Governments across the world] valued human life over their GDP. And it’s encouraging to see the public act responsibly and with some semblance of solidarity.” Ilgunas said. However, he also emphasized the need for a more coordinated global response. 

 After reviewing the effects of COVID-19 on people’s mindsets, Ilgunas hopes that the virus will help communities rethink their inclination towards mindless consumption. While some remain relatively unimpacted, the quarantine has drastically changed global patterns of life, setting restrictions on travel and forcing many to use fewer resources. “I hope this experience helps us distinguish our wants from our needs. If that’s the case, and that’s more than a big ‘if,’ we’ll have moved a step closer to living more sustainably,” Ilgunas concluded. 

Henry Lee

Doctor Henry Lee, the renowned forensic scientist and founder of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science, is currently residing in Connecticut. Lee stated that he is staying well and healthy during the quarantine, but also worries about the public safety issues that have arisen from the pandemic. 

Lee explained the subtle impacts that COVID-19 is having in forensic science laboratories and his research institution. One of his colleagues has said that while laboratories are operating normally, extra protective measures need to be taken when medical examiners deal with autopsies. “They have to take precautions, such as with DNA casting or examining physical autopsies. They wear masks and protective devices,” Lee said.

Regarding the future for the pandemic on a global scale, Lee commented on how this pandemic will continue to affect not just in the biomedical fields but in the economic and political atmosphere, such unemployment rates and waves of populist opinions. There will be problems with possible political tensions. 

Lee places his hope in the youth community with their natural aptitude in telecommunications, and explained how younger generations’ judgement will be informed by this experience. “Lifestyles for everyone, hospital workers, police, firemen and students, will change. Coronavirus is a world problem, and today we’re looking at the global health crisis. We cannot isolate each other now. So let's work together to save the world and make sure it doesn’t become a political issue to escalate the world conflicts.” Lee said. 

Michael Fossel

Michael Fossel is an author, biomedical expert and retired professor of clinical medicine at Michigan State University. He will be the first online assembly speaker on May 14 for the Academy. Similarly to Ilgunas, Fossel and his family of three have adapted well to life under quarantine in Michigan, where the level of lockdown sways between loose and stringent.

Fossel talked about how this smooth transition into quarantine relates to the fully-digital nature of his work. As a founder of biotech company Telocyte, Fossel regularly connects virtually with investors and co-workers from the U.K., Boston, Texas and other areas which are geographically separated but only a millisecond away by internet. 

Although he acknowledges Zoom’s privacy concerns regarding encryption, Fossel described his regular usage of the online platforms for lectures and praised the convenience of online communication. “I can actually show them the data [on Zoom’s backdrop function] in the middle when people bring up a question … I can change my lecture to suit somebody's question as we're going along,” Fossel said. 

Professor Fossel has done extensive studies with neurodegenerative diseases related to aging, such as Alzheimer’s. Fossel explained the cumulative nature of biomedical research, beginning with understanding microbes and evolving into antibiotic research, hand washing, sterile surgery, and treatment of smallpox. “It was a conceptual revolution in the way we looked at medicine and, and making people's lives better. It not only increased the length of human life as we looked at the mean life, but it increased the quality of that life,” Fossel said. 

Fossel supports the promotion of a larger scientific community in politics and a smaller political community in sciences, especially in times like these. “I understand why attention to political consideration is an important thing to do as head of [the World Health Organization], but it shouldn't undercut scientific questions,” he said. 

Conclusion

Looking forward to a future post-coronavirus, the speakers will all pioneer solutions in their respective professions. “As we consider how to put people back to work, how to support those in need, we should try to do this in a way that addresses long term goals,” Livingston concluded.