Updated Focus On: Coronavirus Pandemic experts list

Looking for experts to who can comment on the coronavirus pandemic? Our Focus On: Coronavirus resource connects journalists with experts prepared to speak with international media about different aspects of the pandemic, including public health, virology, economic impacts, travel and spread of information.

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes the COVID-19 disease.

CDC/Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM

Asia Research News supports Asia's research community by increasing awareness of the research and innovation that is happening in the region.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we are updating our Focus On: Coronavirus resource to connect journalists with experts prepared to speak with international media. They specialize in public health, virology, economics, travel and tourism, and spread of information.

All of the experts listed below have agreed to share their knowledge with journalists. We will continue to update the Focus on: Coronavirus list on our website as more researchers volunteer. Journalists are welcome to contact researchers directly, or contact us if you would like help finding a source. 

 

VIROLOGY & PUBLIC HEALTH

Professor Hitoshi Oshitani

Department of Virology
Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Virology, Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Control
Languages comfortable speaking: Japanese, English

In the media:

Professor Gregory Gray

Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme
Duke-NUS Medical School
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Viral respiratory diseases, zoonotic diseases, occupational infectious disease, influenza viruses, adenoviruses, enteroviruses, coronaviruses, and evaluations of new infectious disease diagnostics
Language comfortable speaking: English

In the media:

Professor Dirk U. Pfeiffer 

Director of the Centre for Applied One Health Research and Policy Advice (OHRP)
Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health
City University of Hong Kong 
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Professor Pfeiffer has expertise in One Health approaches, with a specific focus on epidemiological aspects of animal disease control and prevention, including zoonotic diseases such as avian influenza and bovine tuberculosis and animal diseases such as African swine fever. He is the Chow Tak Fung Chair Professor of One Health.
Language comfortable speaking: English

In the media:

Assistant Professor Danielle Anderson

Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme
Duke-NUS Medical School
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Virus/host relationship of a diverse group of medically important viruses that includes Measles virus, Mumps virus and Nipah virus. Use of novel diagnostic platforms for the identification of new infectious viruses and other clinically relevant emerging infectious diseases, such as MERS and Zika virus.
Language comfortable speaking: English

In the media:

Professor David Hui

Department of Medicine and Therapeutics
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected] 
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Respiratory medicine
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese

In the media:

Professor Wang Linfa

Programme Director
Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme
Duke-NUS Medical School
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: He is an international leader in the field of emerging zoonotic viruses and virus-host interaction, specialising in bat-borne viruses. He is a member of the WHO SARS Scientific Research Advisory Committee, and played a key role in identification of bats as the natural host of SARS-like viruses. He has recently been invited to come on board WHO International Health Regulations Committee regarding the new coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Mandarin

In the media:

Tetsuo Kase, Ph.D. 

Department of Public Health
Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine
Email: [email protected]
Research areas he can comment on: My field is an epidemiology of infectious disease, especially respiratory and eruptive viral infections (such as influenza and measles), and zoonoses. Another is evaluation of vaccine effectiveness/efficacy of influenza and so on.  
Language: Japanese. If English, emails only.
(added March 24, 2020)

Professor Eui-Cheol Shin, M.D.

Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Virology, Immunology
Languages comfortable speaking: English and Korean
My Laboratory of Immunology and Infectious Diseases studies T cell immune responses in viral diseases and immunologic diseases. In order to understand T cell immune responses comprehensively, my lab studies not only anti-viral immune responses but also immunopathologic mechanisms in host damage. In addition, my lab tries to develop T cell vaccines and apply them in viral diseases.
(added March 27, 2020)

Professor Su Hyung Park

Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Immunology, Infectious Disease, Vaccine
Languages comfortable speaking: English and Korean
My Lab of Translational Immunology & Vaccinology studies: Protective T cell immunity against intractable disease; Detailed immunological mechanisms involved in pathogenesis and prognosis of infectious and immunologic disease; and Novel immunological biomarkers for prognosis of infectious and immunologic disesase. To this end, we are conducting sophisticated techniques in translational immunology using patients’ clinical samples. In parallel, based on multidisciplinary studies in translational and basic immunology, we focus on the development of novel T cell-based preventive and therapeutic vaccines to intractable infectious diseases.
(added March 27, 2020)

 

ECONOMIC IMPACTS

Janhavi Dave

International Coordinator
HomeNet South Asia
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Economic Empowerment, Informal Economy Women Workers, Home-Based Workers, South Asia, Membership-Based Organisations of Poor
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Hindi

HomeNet South Asia (HNSA) is conducting research of women home-based workers in garment supply chains. While coronavirus has impacted the entire world, women home-based workers are particularly vulnerable and have been significantly affected. HNSA is a network of 60 home-based workers’ organsiations, representing 800,000 home-based workers across South Asia. As the International Coordinator of HNSA, I can speak on the impact of coronavirus on the poor women home-based workers in South Asia.
(added March 27, 2020)

Navsharan Singh

Governance and Justice Program, Asia Regional Office, India
International Development Research Centre
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: informal sector workers, vulnerable groups, women, internally displaced people and refugees
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Hindi
I have researched and published extensively on informal sector workers, especially women workers and I understand the their precarity of work and lives. I have also been working on the vulnerability of Internally Displaced People and those affected by mass sectarian violence. COVID-19 impacts these groups very significantly and in very specific ways.
(added March 27, 2020) 

Edgard Rodriguez

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) - Canada
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Social science research; think tanks; decentralization; labour markets; Myanmar
Languages comfortable speaking: English
I lead an initiative that supports policy research in Myanmar through dozen projects that work with universities and think tanks. The current COVID-19 crisis is an example of emergency policy response that will have a profound long-term effect on developing societies in Asia, especially on transitional economies such as Myanmar’s.
(added March 30, 2020)

Professor Terence Chong 

Department of Economics
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Economic impact on China and the rest of the world
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese, Putonghua

In the media:

Professor Maggie Hu

School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Department of Finance
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Real Estate Economics and Finance, Banking and Finance
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Putonghua

In the media:

Professor Kalok Chan

Department of Finance
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Hong Kong and China financial markets
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese

Mr. Simon Lee

School of Accountancy
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Economic, Real Estate or Housing, Tourism, Investment, Hong Kong and China Stock Markets
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese, Putonghua

 

TOURISM & TRAVEL

Professor Lisa Wan

School of Hotel and Tourism Management and Department of Marketing
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Tourism, Consumer Behaviours
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese, Putonghua

In the media:

Dr. Andrew Yuen

Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Economics, Transport and air transport
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese, Putonghua

Professor Waiman Cheung

Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Transport, Logistics, Innovation and Technology
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese, Putonghua

 

SPREAD OF INFORMATION

Dr. Allan Au

School of Journalism and Communication
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: [email protected] 
Areas of expertise prepared to comment on: Spread of accurate and inaccurate information
Languages comfortable speaking: English, Cantonese, Putonghua