When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the nation’s public health infrastructure was underprepared, to say the least.
Public health officials relied on fax machines to deliver test results, hand wrote people’s vaccination status on small pieces of cardboard and discovered that stockpiles of masks and gowns to protect health care workers were insufficient.
“We really have to re-invent public health,” said Alessandro Vespignani, director of the Network Science Institute and Sternberg Family Distinguished Professor at Northeastern. “This requires an all-hands on deck approach.”
It was in that spirit that Northeastern held a summit Tuesday on “Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Innovation in Public Health Technology.” The all-day, invitation-only event at the university’s EXP research complex on the Boston campus brought together policy, research and industry leaders from across the country.
Keynote speakers included Rear Adm. Susan Blumenthal, M.D., former U.S. assistant surgeon general and White House adviser; and Renee Wegrzn, director of the newly established U.S. Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).
They talked about the need to bring underfunded health care initiatives into the 21st century.
“We’re at a transformational moment, that tipping point between peril and progress in public health, a field that has been one of humanity’s crowning achievements over the past century by expanding the lifespan and quality of life for so many people,” Blumenthal said.
“Public health initiatives have improved sanitation, access to clean water and vaccines and reduced death from preventable causes such as tobacco consumption and motor vehicle crashes,” Blumenthal said.
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