BROADCASTS.com

Dr. Scott Dowell, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, unpacks the foundation\u2019s $2 billion in investments during the three-year acute phase of the pandemic. Some of the most impactful were in surveillance and modeling. The Seattle Flu Study, which predated the pandemic, was fortuitous in what it taught us. Bill Gates\u2019 2022 book, How to Prevent a Pandemic, introduced the concept of \u2018the GERM team\u2019 which has now evolved into the Global Health Emergency Corps, led by the World Health Organization. What are the GHEC\u2019s component elements, and how will it be launched? The foundation continues to engage intensely with the Chinese: what is to be gained? What lessons have emerged from China\u2019s experience? Current foundation R&D priorities include scaled diagnostics, early start of broad spectrum anti-virals, and vaccines in 100 days. On surveillance, priorities are sequencing and wastewater testing. End of the day, \u201cI am optimistic.\u201d