Cal Cities Speaker Series: Infectious disease experts on the evolution of COVID-19 in California and what cities can do

November 9, 2021 9:00 AM-10:00 AM

What does the future hold as we begin to emerge from the pandemic? Join the League of California Cities and BlueDot infectious disease experts Alex Demarsh and Dr. Andrea Thomas for a timely conversation about how COVID-19 will evolve next in California, and the role cities can play in helping drive emergency management of the pandemic.

About BlueDot

BlueDot uses human and artificial intelligence to guide responses to infectious disease risk. They have delivered near-real-time intelligence to governments, hospitals, and airlines throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, BlueDot tracked infectious disease risk for Ebola and the Zika virus.

About the Speakers

Alex Demarsh is an epidemiologist and data scientist who has been dedicated to emerging pandemic threats and emergency management for more than 10 years. He has focused on early warning of global catastrophes. He trained in epidemiology and statistics in Canada and France, software development in Costa Rica, served as an EcoHealthNet Scholar, and is a contributor to the EpiEstim R package. He has led teams in risk assessment, indicator and event-based surveillance, strategic intelligence, data science, and data engineering, often in the context of an ongoing crisis response. At BlueDot, Alex leads Outbreak Science, the human and artificial intelligence that powers its global early warning system and translates insights for high-speed, high-stakes decision-making.

Dr. Andrea Thomas is a veterinary epidemiologist with experience in surveillance and quantitative epidemiology. She has previously worked on projects involving the evaluation of West Nile virus surveillance in Ontario and enhanced surveillance for livestock disease detection. Andrea leads the surveillance team, and her expertise in the domains of zoonoses and surveillance, in addition to her quantitative and spatial analytic skills, supports the BlueDot Analytics, Data Engineering and Development teams. Andrea holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, a master’s degree in epidemiology, and a Ph.D. in epidemiology, all obtained at the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph.

About the Cal Cities Speaker Series

The Cal Cities Speaker Series features government leaders and policy experts sharing insights on big picture issues and trends that matter most to cities. Our speakers, like our cities, have diverse perspectives and Cal Cities is excited to provide meaningful dialogue that engages, enlightens, and inspires. The Cal Cities Speaker Series features high-profile speakers and is free to members and League Partners.

Registration must be completed by November 8 at 5:00 p.m. Non-Cal Cities members will be charged $150. Please note that registration is limited to 1,000 people.

For questions about webinar registration, please contact Megan Dunn. For all other questions, please contact Christina George.