NDI Global Roundtable Series
Success and Challenges in Social Distancing: Perspectives from Brazil, Italy, & Kenya
Co-sponsored by the Eck Institute for Global Health and the Ford Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity.
Notre Dame International invites all members of the Notre Dame community and friends of the University to the first event in a series of virtual events dedicated to internationalizing conversations on issues of vital importance.
This first roundtable will focus on social distancing. While we know that social distancing slows the spread of the coronavirus, other consequences of this public health intervention are less clear. Where and among whom has social distancing worked best? What are the unintended effects of social distancing? What are the positive and negative consequences of the so-called “lockdowns”? How has social distancing affected the lives of the elderly and the poor? What impact has it had on how we think about work and the workplace? What are the lessons learned for how we might deal with such pandemics in the future?
We will feature perspectives from three countries: Brazil, Italy, and Kenya.
Host: Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C.*, assistant provost for internationalization and associate professor of political science, University of Notre Dame.
Moderator: Bernard Nahlen, MD**, director, Eck Institute for Global Health and professor of biological sciences, University of Notre Dame.
PLEASE NOTE: Indicated event times are U.S. Eastern Time.
Panelists
Lorena Barberia, professor of political pcience at the University of São Paulo. Professor Barberia is the scientific coordinator of the Solidarity Research Network on Public Policy and Society, a research initiative that seeks to improve the standard, calibrate the focus, and improve the quality of federal, state and municipal government policies that seek to respond to the COVID-19 crisis with the aim of helping to save lives in Brazil.
Claudio Betti, assistant to the president of the community of Sant’Egidio, Rome. Sant’Egidio is a Catholic lay movement that serves the elderly poor, people with disabilities, and refugees in Italy and other parts of the world. Betti is Director of Australian Catholic University, Rome Campus.
Vincent Ogutu, vice chancellor designate, Strathmore University, Nairobi, Kenya. Professor Ogutu is charged with oversight of Strathmore University's strategy, alumni relations, development projects, and community outreach. He is also Professor of Management. Much of his research and teaching has focused on the future of work and work environments.
*Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C., associate professor of political science, assumed the position of assistant provost for internationalization with Notre Dame International in February, 2020. His primary responsibilities include leadership of the Dublin Global Gateway, Kylemore Abbey Global Centre, and the São Paulo Global Center; and future engagement with Africa.
Father Bob is a Notre Dame graduate with a PhD in political science from UCLA. His research interests include African politics, ethnic politics, and the relationship between religion, political institutions, national identity, and human development. He is author of the book, Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy: Lessons from sub-Saharan Africa (Oxford University Press, 2015), and several articles on African politics. He is currently focusing on research concerning religion and the integration of migrants/refugees in Europe and North America and the effects of faith-based schools on citizenship and civic engagement in Africa.
**Dr. Bernard Nahlen, is the director of the Eck Institute for Global Health within Notre Dame Research. His career is dedicated to addressing diseases that disproportionately impact people in low- and middle-income countries. From 2007-2017, he served as the Deputy Coordinator of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). During his time as technical lead, PMI expanded to 24 high-burden countries in Africa as well as to Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand, and developed effective partnerships with Ministries of Health, multilaterals (WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, World Bank, the Global Fund), other bilateral aid agencies in the UK and Australia, private foundations (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clinton Health Access Initiative), non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. In 2015, WHO reported that malaria deaths had declined by 60% globally compared to baseline year 2000.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, he completed his residency in Family Practice at the University of California, San Francisco, as well as a second residency in Preventive Medicine at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 1992, he arrived in Kenya where he spent the next seven years as director of the CDC field research station in collaboration with the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Under his leadership, the field station conducted several seminal studies, including the health impact of insecticide-treated bed nets for malaria prevention in an area of intense perennial transmission, the efficacy of intermittent preventive treatment for control of malaria in pregnancy, and interactions between HIV and malaria among pregnant women and children. From 2000-2005, he served as Senior Technical Advisor to the WHO Global Malaria Programme, where he led the Monitoring and Evaluation team and the Malaria in Pregnancy teams. From 2005-2006, Dr. Nahlen was Senior Advisor in the Performance Evaluation and Policy unit of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.