Vaccine passports? New variants? Booster shots? Masking requirements? With all the focus on combatting Canada’s third wave, many are wondering how we will control this pandemic in the months ahead while facing the prospect of living with SARS-Cov-19 long-term. How can modelling help us better understand what to expect from our “new normal” in the months and years to come?

In this edition of “What the Numbers Say”, we will focus on the evolution of the virus, troubling new variants, vaccines, travel and what the future may hold. CBC Journalist Manjula Selvarajah will moderate a fascinating discussion that explores the potential realities of sharing a planet with the SARS-CoV-2.

This is your opportunity to hear directly from the experts on the front lines of modelling and battling the virus. 

Register today to get the livestream link. Please send your questions to the panel by Friday, May 7 at 10 am to taskforce@fields.utoronto.ca. 

Panel:

Dr. Andrew Morris
Dr. Andrew Morris is Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and the Medical Director of the Sinai Health System-University Health Network Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. Dr. Morris has worked closely with regional, provincial, and federal governments and interprovincial organizations to help develop and coordinate antimicrobial stewardship efforts. While working on the frontline of the pandemic, he provides witty, highly informed and valuable public commentary about the pandemic via Twitter and a popular weekly newsletter. 

Dr. Sally Otto

Sarah (Sally) Otto is a Killam University Professor at the University of British Columbia. Otto is known for her theoretical studies investigating how biological systems evolve, with over. Dr. Otto was co-founder of the Canadian Society of Ecology and Evolution and has recently served on the Species at Risk Advisory Council to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada. She launched and directs the Liber Ero program, a Canadian-wide post-doctoral program in conservation science. Since February 2020, she has been a team member of the BC COVID-19 modelling group. 

Dr. Jianhong Wu

Jianhong Wu is a University Distinguished Research Professor and Senior Canada Research Chair in Industrial and Applied Mathematics at York University. He is also the NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Vaccine Mathematics, Modelling and Manufacturing. Prof. Wu’s research is based in the mathematics of dynamical systems and bifurcation theory, with which he develops methods to model epidemiological systems. Prof. Wu led national efforts to use mathematics as a tool to address emerging infectious diseases such as SARS, influenza, Ebola, antimicrobial drug resistance and Lyme disease. He currently leads the National COVID-19 Modeling Rapid Response Task Force.

Moderator: 

Manjula Selvarajah, Tech Columnist

Manjula Selvarajah is a journalist, producer and syndicated tech columnist for CBC Radio One. In her former role, she was vice president of marketing at a Toronto-based tech startup and holds an engineering degree from Queen’s University.