COVID-19 has demonstrated that data is a critical component of an informed public health response. This panel discussion addresses how real time data and tools from Facebook have been leveraged to better forecast and respond to COVID-19 and how to apply these learnings to future outbreaks. Public health researchers and government officials discuss the role of Facebook mobility data in COVID-19 forecasting and prevention as well as key insights that informed public health decisions. You will also learn about how tools have been leveraged by international institutions to communicate urgent COVID-19 messages, connecting more than 2 billion people to resources and information from health authorities.
Praveen Raja is the Director of Health Partnerships at Facebook. Praveen’s passion and experience has been to create products, partnerships, and innovation that advance health at a global scale. Throughout his career, he has developed and led high-performing innovative teams across health start-ups, large global corporations, health systems, academic / research environments, and global health organizations to deliver cutting-edge innovation that have achieved significant health impact. In his most recent role, Praveen served as Chief Operating Officer and VP of Technology Development & Market Introduction at PATH, a large, international NGO focused on solving global health challenges through innovation and partnerships. Praveen’s prior roles at Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, and Proteus Digital Health have encompassed innovation, product development and commercialization roles across medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and digital health. Prior to his industry roles, Praveen’s medical career included serving as the Chief of Behavioral Medicine at Kaiser Permanente as part of an effort to redesign primary care to integrate medical and psychosocial interventions, address social determinants of health, and delivering lower cost, personalized care that improved health outcomes.
Praveen's academic background includes a Ph.D. from UCLA where he completed training as a clinical psychologist with a focus on behavioral medicine (integration of medicine and
psychology) and served in research, teaching and clinical roles. In addition to his professional positions, Praveen has entrepreneurial experience as co-founder of a successful cloud-based medical software company and an education focused NGO that has built a K-12 school for underserved children in rural India. Praveen also serves on advisory boards of several global health technology accelerators, NCD Coalition, and the Bay Area Global Health Alliance.
Sir Nick Clegg joined Facebook in October 2018 as Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications after almost two decades in British and European public life. Prior to being elected to the UK Parliament in 2005 he worked in the European Commission and served for five years as a Member of the European Parliament. He became leader of the Liberal Democrat party in 2007 and served as Deputy Prime Minister in the UK’s first Coalition Government since the war from 2010 to 2015.He has written two best-selling books: Politics: Between the Extremes and How To Stop Brexit (and make Britain great again). Nick currently lives in California with his wife, Miriam, and three sons.
Laura McGorman is the Global Policy Lead for Facebook’s Data for Good Portfolio, which focuses on sharing privacy preserving datasets with nonprofits and researchers to address crises. Prior to joining Facebook, Laura held positions during the Obama Administration at the US Department of Commerce, Opower, the World Bank and USAID. She has a BA from Columbia University and a Masters in Development Economics from Harvard.
Dr. Andrew Schroeder is the Vice President of Research and Analysis for Direct Relief. He leads Direct Relief’s work in GIS mapping, epidemiological analysis and humanitarian informatics. His work has been published or featured in publications including Sc ience, The Lancet, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Fast Company, Motherboard Vice, Wired, The New Humanitarian, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, and the International Journal of Cancer. He has worked in a consulting and advisory capacity for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP). Dr. Schroeder is the co-founder, along with colleagues at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, of the Covid-19 Mobility Data Network , a global network of infectious disease experts and public health responders dedicated to real-time digital epidemiological analysis during the Covid-19 pandemic and future health emergencies. He is also the co-founder and Board President of the global nonprofit WeRobotics.orgg, which builds local capacity in robotics applications for humanitarian aid, development, and global health in 30 countries around the world. Dr. Schroeder earned his Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Analysis from New York University and his Masters of Public Policy (MPP) and certification in Science, Technology and Public Policy (STPP) from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan
Over the last 25 years, Andy has held a range of leadership roles in the digital space, supporting innovation across both private and public sectors. As Head of Online at the World Wide Fund for Nature International (www.panda.org), he spearheaded the organization's first online fundraising campaign and developed its first web-based projects. While Head of Online at Credit Suisse Private Banking (www.credit-suisse.com), Andy designed the company’s accessibility standards allowing blind clients to use previously inaccessible online services. At the Union of European Football Associations (www.uefa.com), he was responsible for bringing football from the stadium to millions of mobile phones around the world through pioneering livestreamed events and developing UEFA's first mobile services.
At WHO, Andy strives to amplify vital public health messages to more people through more channels. During the COVID-19 emergency, Andy has engaged the digital sector to support this mission and leads the Tech Task Force, a conglomerate of over 40 companies working to tackle misinformation, raise quality content and develop new digital channels. Through his work, WHO has been able to reach billions of people. Andy has also been the web lead for over 35 emergencies while at WHO, with deployments to the African Region to support both Ebola and Cholera outbreaks.