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Virtual event series

The Johns Hopkins Briefing

In this series, experts provide timely analysis and insights about topics of national and global importance and engage in real-time Q&A with the audience. The Office of Interdisciplinary Initiatives hosts the series.

Recent event

Johns Hopkins University hosted a live, virtual briefing on June 2 including an overview of the current crisis and discussion of possible solutions, supply chain challenges, implications for cancer treatment, and more.

The following Johns Hopkins experts participated:

  • Mariana Socal, MD, PhD, Associate Scientist, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
  • Joshua Sharfstein, MD, Professor of the Practice, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
  • Tinglong Dai, PhD, Professor, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
  • Amanda Fader, MD, Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
  • Moderator: Lainie Rutkow, JD, PhD, Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Initiatives

Past events

The end of the federal COVID emergency

Johns Hopkins experts discuss the implications of the conclusion of the federal public health emergency for COVID-19 treatment, vaccines, and data collection.

A series of green lines in a web mimicking a virtual neural network
Advances in artificial intelligence: Defining a new era

Johns Hopkins experts explore the latest developments in artificial intelligence, including AI language learning programs such as ChatGPT, disinformation campaigns, ethical concerns involving artificial intelligence, and AI in health care

U.S. Capitol dome
Midterm elections: Implications for public policy

The second event in a two-part series of expert briefings examines the potential policy and political changes resulting from the 2022 U.S. midterm elections. Topics covered included climate, health care, education, and international relations.

I Voted stickers
Midterm elections: Implications for democracy

The first of a two-part series of expert briefings on the 2022 U.S. midterms addressed civic participation and voter turnout, social polarization, the crisis of liberal democracy, protest and unrest, and historical context.

An apparent landscape of mountains and valleys speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula in this image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope and a New Era of Scientific Discovery

Topics discussed include why James Webb Space Telescope was built, what was required to get it ready for science operations, the Webb’s first full-color images and what they revealed, JWST’s first year of observations, and the future of its science mission.

Monkeypox virus closeup shows three opaque white circles of different sizes against a black background
Aug. 10, 2022
The global monkeypox outbreak

Topics covered include the prevention and treatment of monkeypox, how monkeypox is transmitted and ways to contain its spread, the social context for monkeypox and ways to reduce stigma around the outbreaks, and the availability and distribution of monkeypox vaccines

A United States flag at half mast against a backdrop of an orange sunset
June 2, 2022
Responding to Gun Violence with Effective and Fair Solutions

Topics discussed include the challenge gun violence poses for American democracy, which gun laws are effective, Extreme Risk Protection Orders and how they can help to prevent gun violence, research on public opinion about solutions to gun violence, and measures to promote student safety and health in a time of rising gun violence

Blue and yellow paint strokes meant to represent Ukraine flag
May 17, 2022
War in Ukraine: Perspectives on a Global Crisis

This briefing included discussion of the historical backstory to the war and the likely consequences for international order, the humanitarian crisis and how it has evolved, the conflict’s impacts on global food systems and food security, and the war’s effects on European politics and the European Union

Blue and yellow paint strokes meant to represent Ukraine flag
March 30, 2022
War in Ukraine: Perspectives on a Global Crisis

This briefing included discussion of the historical backstory to the conflict and the significance of this moment in history, the human costs of the war and the evolving humanitarian crisis, the threat of Russian weapon of mass destruction use in Ukraine; cyber threats to Ukraine and other democracies, and the war’s implications for economic globalization