Ali Khan, M.D., M.P.H., dean of the UNMC College of Public Health, will discuss coronavirus (COVID-19) on April 21 at 10 a.m. as part of the Omaha Science Cafe series.
To comply with social distancing recommendations, this Science Cafe will be offered via Facebook Live.
Dr. Khan’s professional career has focused on health security, global health and emerging infectious diseases. He completed a 23-year career as a senior director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which he joined as a disease detective, and where he led and responded to numerous high-profile domestic and international public health emergencies. Dr. Khan also is a former assistant surgeon general with the U.S. Public Health Service.
Dr. Khan was one of the main architects of the CDC’s national health security program and continues this work at UNMC, which has been nationally designated to prepare the American health care system to respond to outbreaks of high-hazard pathogens. He also continues to actively support global outbreak responses, such as the response for the West Africa Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone and the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh as a member of World Health Organization (WHO) Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN).
Science Cafes involve a face-to-face conversation with a scientist about current science topics. They are open to everyone (21 and older) and take place in casual settings like pubs and coffeehouses. Each meeting is organized around an interesting topic of conversation. A scientist gives a brief presentation followed by a Q-and-A period.