This podcast was recorded on Saturday, 21 March 2020 and is a quick run down of the Imperial College London report that was published 16 March 2020. This report dramatically shifted the public policy of the United States and Great Britain last Monday concerning the COVID19 pandemic.



The Imperial College in London is one of the world’s top research universities and houses a highly regarded epidemiology research center, which produced the report, called the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis (MRC GIDA).  Neil Ferguson is the lead author of the report and an influential voice in the international epidemiology community… who, also this week, contracted COVID19 – more on that in a minute.



The MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis advises governments and organizations, like the World Health Organization, on global epidemiology.  They describe themselves this way:  “The MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis (MRC GIDA) is an international resource and centre of excellence for research and capacity building on the epidemiological analysis and modelling of infectious diseases.  [We] undertake applied collaborative work with national and international agencies to support policy planning and response operations against infectious disease threats.



We undertake a wide range of innovative world-class research that can make a demonstrable economic and social impact; carrying out research on emerging and endemic diseases and has a focus on ensuring modelling is translated into practical policy guidance for planning and responding to infectious disease threats.”







Ferguson, N. M., et. al. (16 March 2020). Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID-19 mortality and healthcare demand. Imperial College. Retrieved from https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf



Financial Times reports on Neil Ferguson contracting COVID19 the week Imperial College’s report came out here.



Wang, C., Horby, P. W., Hayden, F. G., & Gao, G. F. (2020). A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. The Lancet, 395(10223), 470-473. Retrieved from https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30185-9/fulltext



Lander, M., Castle, S. (17 March 2020). Behind the Virus Report That Jarred the U.S. and the U.K. to Action. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/world/europe/coronavirus-imperial-college-johnson.html.



van Elsland, S. L., O’Hare, R. (17 March 2020) COVID-19: Imperial researchers model likely impact of public health measures. Imperial College London News. Retrieved from https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/196234/covid19-imperial-researchers-model-likely-impact/