Conquering Epidemics

We can never stop fighting

Humans and pathogens are locked in a bitter arms race—and the pathogens are winning. They are evolving to resist our best medicines, and humanity’s pipeline of effective antibiotic weapons is empty. Meanwhile, in a world of packed cities, constant travel, and a warming planet, the danger of a massive outbreak is more acute than ever.

We’re fighting on many fronts to make sure humanity is ready when the next big outbreak happens. Whether it’s a virulent new virus or a persistent killer like AIDS, TB, or Malaria, we’re determined to outsmart our infectious disease foes. We’re mining mountains of data to reveal clues about how these diseases spread. We’re cracking the pathogens’ biological codes. And we’re helping teams around the world build better systems for surveillance and response.

We’re stopping patient 0 from leading to patient 6.7 billion.

Recent Stories

Waning immunity allowed Massachusetts mumps outbreaks

In 2016 and 2017, the number of mumps cases in Massachusetts was 250 and 170, respectively, a large increase from the average of 10 cases annually in the state. Most patients in these outbreaks had been vaccinated, and some researchers speculated that…

Response to coronavirus could shape legacy of WHO and its director-general

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, must navigate myriad political and economic factors as the agency responds to coronavirus outbreak, according to news reports. A February 10, 2020, Science article explored the challenges Ghebreyesus faces, and discussed how he’s…

Cancer symposium looks at new diagnostics for early detection

February 12, 2020 – Timothy Rebbeck kicked off the second annual Zhu Family Center for Global Cancer Prevention symposium on an optimistic note. “U.S. cancer rates have dropped dramatically. In 2016-2017, we saw the largest single-year decline in cancer deaths ever,” he…

Instagram remains a hotbed of vaccine misinformation

Leaders of the social media platform Instagram said months ago that they would take steps to curb the spread of misinformation about vaccines, but anti-vaccine content remains prevalent on the platform, according to news reports. A February 2, 2020 Huffington Post investigation…