At the beginning of 2021, a team of experts appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) completed a 28-day mission to the Chinese city of Wuhan to investigate the origins of the virus that caused the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Emma Ross and Professor David Heymann host Professor Marion Koopmans and Professor John Watson, from the mission, to discuss their findings. Did the team learn anything from this trip that they didn’t know before? To what extent has our understanding of how to prevent pandemics progressed? And what further research is required at this point?
Dr Daszak’s research has been instrumental in identifying and predicting the origins and impact of emerging diseases across the globe. This includes identifying the bat origin of SARS, the drivers of Nipah virus emergence, publishing the first global emerging disease ‘hotspots’ map and discovering SADS coronavirus.
Professor Marion Koopmans is the head of the Erasmus MC department of Viroscience. Her focus is on the global population level impact of rapidly spreading zoonotic virus infections with a special emphasis on foodborne transmission.
Professor John Watson is a senior medical adviser in the Health Protection and Medical Directorate at Public Health England. He is the former deputy chief medical officer for the UK’s Department of Health.
This event is open to members of Chatham House and members of the public. Existing members may register via their members’ portal as per usual. Members of the public may register using the following form.
