Hopkins at Home: No One Was Immune: The History and Science of Pandemics in the Americas from Smallpox to COVID-19

Description

Join John Hessler for a lecture focused on the genomics and geospatial transmission of infectious disease, concentrating on the VARV Variola virus (smallpox), from which we have the oldest complete genome sequence; on the science of ancient DNA sequencing; and on the complexities of mapping the genome and mutation patterns of pandemics such as COVID-19. Examine archaeological evidence, such as the Vilnius mummies, and look into the genomic origins of the smallpox strains that came to the Americas in the 16th century. Learn about new techniques and mathematical and algorithmic breakthroughs in phylogenetic analysis and explore the geospatial dynamics, the complex disease transmission network, and the nucleotide mutation patterns in COVID-19.

Please attend the event by joining the webcast on Sept. 29. Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #HopkinsatHome.

John Hessler is a specialist in computational geography and geographic information science at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. He is the founder of the New Geometries Laboratory, which focuses on combing methods from evolutionary computation with geospatial data along with advances in bioinformatics, to study complex spatial analysis problems, such as mapping COVID-19. The author of more than 100 books and articles including the New York Times bestseller Map: Exploring the World, Hessler lectures on computation and mathematical sciences in the Odyssey Program at Johns Hopkins University.

Johns Hopkins alumni and employees are eligible for discounts on Odyssey courses (25% discount for alumni; 80% remission for employees).