Rajiv J. Shah

While we may not have seen the novel coronavirus and Covid-19 respiratory disease before, we have certainly seen the damage infectious disease threats pose. When I led the US response in West Africa to the Ebola outbreak, I saw the cost of disease firsthand. I also saw how leveraging technology and real-time data—during the Ebola crisis this was information from cellphones— enabled public health authorities to help direct limited resources to people and health systems in the greatest need, and ultimately stem the spread of that deadly disease.