The COVID-19 global pandemic has changed everything, at incredible personal and professional costs. As vaccine development and distribution provides a glimmer of hope, it also begs the inevitable question: when will things return to normal? On March 18, leading experts in infectious disease, public health, public policy, and contamination control will debate this question and others in the Contec Cleanovators™ Special Event: Vaccine Expert Panel. The event, in collaboration with IEST, is part of Contec’s Cleanovators Summit series, dedicated to convening important conversations on issues impacting public health and safety.

“The promise of the COVID-19 vaccine affects every one of us, personally and professionally,” says Matt Schiering, Chief Marketing Officer with Contec, Inc. “Despite all the information circulating about the COVID-19 vaccine, there continues to be unknowns and uncertainty. As leading experts in contamination control for pharmaceutical manufacturing, Contec will lead a discussion on tough questions ranging from herd immunity and post-vaccination transmission to ensuring vaccine safety and calming fear.”

Dave Nobile, Contec’s technical services manager and IEST vice president of contamination Control, will co-moderate this enlightening panel discussion with Neil Simpson, Contec’s Technical and R&D Manager, EMEA. The renowned panel of experts bring decades of experience ranging from infectious disease research and vaccines’ effect on our bodies, to herd immunity and the impact on health policy around the world.

Panelists include:

Vin Gupta, M.D., MPA, Affiliate Assistant Professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, part of the University of Washington. A pulmonary and critical care medicine physician by training, Dr. Gupta has been caring for critical COVID-19 patients since the early days of the outbreak in Seattle. He helped a cross-sectoral team stand up the Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network, the nation’s first effort to scale home-testing for COVID-19. His background in public health has focused on epidemic preparedness, with relevant roles at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Emerging Infections Program, the World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility, the China CDC, and the Pentagon’s Center for Global Health Engagement. Finally, Dr. Gupta is a deployable critical care physician for the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps Reserves, medical contributor for MSNBC and NBC News, and term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Gregory Poland, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Infectious Disease, Mayo Clinic
As director of the Mayo Vaccine Research Group, Dr. Poland and his team focus on developing new vaccine solutions and understanding the immunogenetic mechanisms for the development of vaccine-induced immune responses. The group aims to improve the health of individuals across the world by pursuing challenges posed by infectious diseases and bioterrorism through clinical, laboratory and epidemiologic vaccine research. Dr. Poland is also the Editor-in-Chief of the professional scientific journal, Vaccine.

Peter Pitts, President and co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest
The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational organization that seeks to advance the discussion and development of patient-centered health care. Prior to founding CMPI, Pitts was a Senior Fellow for healthcare studies at the Pacific Research Institute.Fr om 2002-2004 he was FDA’s Associate Commissioner for External Relations, serving as senior communications and policy adviser to the Commissioner. He supervised the FDA's Office of Public Affairs, Office of the Ombudsman, Office of Special Health Issues, Office of Executive Secretariat, and Advisory Committee Oversight and Management. He served on the agency’s obesity working group and counterfeit drug taskforce. He also currently serves as a Visiting Professor at Université Paris Descartes Medical School.

Register today for this Cleanovators Special Event www.cleanovatorspecialevent.com