Alessandro Vespignani All Experts

Sternberg Distinguished Professor of Physics, Computer Science and Health Sciences

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a.vespignani@northeastern.edu

Alessandro Vespignani In the Media

Alessandro Vespignani for Northeastern

Flu season is coming and COVID-19 is still here. Can disease forecasts tell them apart?

Both viruses attack the respiratory system and can have similar symptoms. “Something like this is completely unprecedented,” says Alessandro Vespignani, who directs Northeastern’s Network Science Institute. “Having a major pandemic and then trying to get insight on the seasonal flu—it’s a completely new game.”
- by Laura Castañón October 13, 2020
If rich countries monopolize COVID-19 vaccines, it could cause twice as many deaths as distributing them equally

Researchers from Northeastern’s Network Science Institute have partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to predict COVID-19 deaths based on two different ways of distributing vaccines.
- by Emily Arntsen September 14, 2020
‘A network is crucial to describe how infectious disease spreads, and this is what we do’

On Thursday, Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern, joined Alessandro Vespignani, who directs the Network Science Institute, to discuss where we are now in the COVID-19 crisis, where we’re headed, and what policymakers can do to prepare for the next pandemic.
- by Laura Castañón May 14, 2020
Models can predict how COVID-19 will spread. What goes into them, and how can we use what they tell us?

On Thursday, Joseph E. Aoun, president of Northeastern, will sit down for a conversation with Alessandro Vespignani, the director of Northeastern’s Network Science Institute, who is leading one of the major efforts to model this disease.
- by Laura Castañón May 13, 2020
The coronavirus was in the US in January. We need to understand how we missed it.

SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, was circulating in major U.S. cities as early as January, says Alessandro Vespignani, director of Northeastern’s Network Science Institute. And if we want to keep our communities safe going forward, we need to understand how we missed a virus that was right under our noses.
- by Laura Castañón April 26, 2020
Northeastern models are helping shape US COVID-19 policy

Northeastern researchers are part of the network of teams creating models to advise the Trump administration on the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., White House officials said Tuesday. They said data from the models formed the basis of the decision to extend “social distancing” guidelines through April.
- by Laura Castañón and Khalida Sarwari April 1, 2020
‘Social distancing’ is only the first step toward stopping the COVID-19 pandemic

After days of closures and requests—or orders—to stay home, many people caught in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic are wondering if these efforts will be enough. Network scientist Alessandro Vespignani says the answer depends on the ways that local, regional, and federal governments use the time.
- by Laura Castañón March 24, 2020
Closing borders can delay, but can’t stop the spread of COVID-19, new report says

Travel restrictions will not stop the spread of COVID-19, but observing quarantines and avoiding public events gives us a chance to slow the epidemic, says Matteo Chinazzi, a research scientist in the Network Science Institute. “Closing airports will buy you time, but it’s not enough.”
- by Emily Arntsen March 6, 2020
How can we stop the spread of false rumors about COVID-19? Better math.

Rumors travel fast, just like all information on the internet. Northeastern professor Alessandro Vespignani and doctoral student Jessica Davis want to model how those rumors spread, as well as the conditions that allow for their propagation.
- by Roberto Molar Candanosa March 2, 2020
How long can China’s mass quarantine stave off a coronavirus pandemic?

Though the effort to head off a pandemic is centered in China now, the rest of the world cannot close itself off forever, said speakers at a panel on Northeastern’s Boston campus Wednesday convened to discuss the outbreak.
- by Laura Castañón February 5, 2020

Alessandro Vespignani All Experts

Alessandro Vespignani In the Media

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Alessandro Vespignani for Northeastern

Flu season is coming and COVID-19 is still here. Can disease forecasts tell them apart?

If rich countries monopolize COVID-19 vaccines, it could cause twice as many deaths as distributing them equally

‘A network is crucial to describe how infectious disease spreads, and this is what we do’

Models can predict how COVID-19 will spread. What goes into them, and how can we use what they tell us?

The coronavirus was in the US in January. We need to understand how we missed it.

Northeastern models are helping shape US COVID-19 policy

‘Social distancing’ is only the first step toward stopping the COVID-19 pandemic

Closing borders can delay, but can’t stop the spread of COVID-19, new report says

How can we stop the spread of false rumors about COVID-19? Better math.

How long can China’s mass quarantine stave off a coronavirus pandemic?

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