Montrealer leading a U.S. team tracking the coronavirus
MONTREAL — An epidemiologist from Montreal has been at the forefront of tracking down the coronavirus spread.
John Brownstein, the chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and a Harvard professor, is a founder, creator and head of the hospital’s HealthMap AI team, which was the first to alert the public, outside China, about some then-unidentified pneumonia-like cases in Wuhan on Dec. 30. The team then alerted the World Health Organization (WHO) to the situation, and now the whole world is abundantly aware.
(Full disclosure: John Brownstein is my way, way smarter yet most affable and unassuming nephew, who has been a guest on myriad U.S TV talk shows and interviewed in newspapers across the continent.)
Nor does the coronavirus mark the first time Brownstein’s HealthMap team has delved into deadly viruses. Since its creation in 2006, it has dealt with everything from the avian and swine flu to MERS and Ebola.
“Certainly, the coronavirus doesn’t appear to be as deadly as Ebola,” he says. “But it’s the impact of the coronavirus on the elderly and those who are medically compromised that is of great concern. All the same, I wouldn’t call this a pandemic just yet. We would still have to wait a few months to make that kind of determination.”
Though some in the field have upped the mortality rate to three per cent of those with the virus, he cautions not to jump to conclusions.
“We really have to be careful about the numbers we’re putting out now. The situation is incredibly fluid at the moment. It depends on the underlying context, the capacity of the health system and the ability to differentiate between harsher and milder cases.”
What makes the coronavirus so complex to comprehend is that so much remains unknown about it.
“We’re still trying to understand the very features of the virus, how it is transmitted and spread, and whether or not it is symptomatic,” he says. “The challenge is the transmission is very hard to control.”
He predicts a vaccine will become available, but, unfortunately, not soon enough to stop the spread.
Unlike most other major viral outbreaks, the coronavirus has created panic and paranoia in some parts of North America, largely because it’s in the news 24/7. Many are scooping up face masks (which aren’t deemed to be very helpful) and hand sanitizers, emptying store shelves and hoarding food supplies, and avoiding crowds and restaurants — specifically Chinese eateries.
The resultant hysteria has been linked to disinformation coming from uninformed sources on the internet. The HealthMap automated system is based on credible online news and social media reports as well as first-hand information from the field.
“There is just so much content and confusion out there. We take all the credible data we have in our computer system in order to make a more accurate analysis of the situation.”
Curiously, while his base of operations is Boston Children’s Hospital, the coronavirus has had the least impact on kids, whose immune systems are often more ready for combat.
“Our scope is essentially all ages.”
Unlike some who have speculated that the coronavirus will disappear with the advent of warmer weather, he is not so optimistic, suggesting that, on some levels, it’s not unlike a flu or cold that can strike any time.
“That’s not really a hypothesis we can support right now. It’s really about exercising caution. Certainly, it’s always helpful to have supplies at home, and it can’t be stated enough the importance of washing our hands. But, honestly, I really believe we will get through this. We’ve seen worse.”
After graduating from high school in Montreal, Brownstein earned a full scholarship to Yale
University. Following teaching and research assignments at Yale, he was hired at Harvard, where he became a full professor six years ago at the age of 36. He has been the chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital for 15 years.
“AI has been such a boon to science and medicine,” says Brownstein, who lives with his wife, Catherine, a geneticist and also a Harvard prof, and their two children, Jackson and Caroline. “I had always been fascinated by computer science growing up and how it could benefit our health system. But I could never have anticipated the leaps AI has taken over the years and will con tinue to do so.”
All the same, he will never forsake his hometown. He visits here several times a year to touch base with family, friends and the ever-burgeoning restaurant scene. His biggest flaw probably is being an unabashed follower of the cursed New England Patriots
But given his contributions in helping stave off epidemics, he can be forgiven this trespass.