Class Colloquium 8: COVID Update, Jan. 27, 2 pm EST
Editors Note: Classmate Ken Davis, MD, CEO of Mt. Sinai Health System in New York, presented the very first Class Colloquium in April when COVID was crushing New York. It was so well-received, we made Class Colloquia a series!
With the “second wave” of the pandemic raging and vaccines arriving, it’s time for an update. Ken will be joined by classmate Ira Berkower, MD/PhD, Principal Investigator in the FDA’s Immunoregulation Lab, and an expert on vaccines.
The next and 8th Class Colloquium is set for 2:00 pm EST on Wednesday, January 27, 2021. Classmates Ken Davis, MD and Ira Berkower, MD/Ph.D. will present an updated session focused upon the COVID pandemic.
When we gathered on Zoom last April 10th, the COVID crisis was decimating New York City’s population and hospitals. Ken Davis, the CEO of the Mt. Sinai Health System, gave a cogent presentation that became the foundational basis of understanding for many Classmates. In the process, he was the first guest in what has evolved into a dynamic, informative, and anticipated series of periodic Class gatherings we now call “Class Colloquia.”
In the interim, the pandemic has evolved into a worldwide crisis causing vast economic, social, and political damage to even the most stable of nations. Since that April Zoom session, the basic science associated with COVID infection has been learned – the hard way. Absent adequate testing, medicines, and even societal agreement upon the public health measures needed to manage the disease, we have all have had to modify our lives to live safely.
The months since have been marked by societal discord, denial, repression of true science, frustration, and politicization of this public health and economic crisis. Healthcare systems worldwide have been challenged, stressed, and suffered from the depletion of resources and in some instances, hope.
Recent progress in the development of vaccines has given the US and the world a rejuvenation of hopefulness and spirit.
To this recently enhanced atmosphere we offer two Classmates who can and will speak to a better future based upon science and experience.
Ken Davis, MD is the President and CEO of New York’s Mt.Sinai Healthcare System. His system’s experience caring for COVID patients is extensive and unparalleled. Many of the luminaries we have heard over these last months have been from the Mt. Sinai system and reflect their expertise. Ken possesses a compendium of information and will speak of their experience, the disease as it affects our senior population, and the impact of the crisis upon the healthcare system -with a focus upon the likely changes going forward.
Ira Berkower, MD/Ph.D. has spent his career as an Immunologist working on the development of monoclonal antibodies and vaccine development. Employed by the FDA, Ira will update us upon the science and progress in the development of the various vaccines.
Bring your thinking caps and be prepared for the latest update on the science as well as the societal and healthcare implications, of the greatest health challenge the world has faced in the last 100 years. Last, if you have any questions for our speakers, you can leave them on this quick-survey form.
This session will be reserved for ‘69ers only.
Be sure to register now:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwkf-2vqzssGNEWpmnKtIfLPjGZ8jc2Ds8s
After registering, you will receive a confirmation by email containing information about joining the meeting.
We will start promptly, so please JOIN the meeting 5-10 minutes early.
General question for Art and Wayne: Are past colloquium sessions recorded and on the ’69 site somewhere? That way, we could watch a past event if we missed one.
Thanks, and wishing you all a safe and happy new year.
Tom Reed 🙂