Since that spike, the number of new cases has leveled off, but so has the number of tests, noted Northeastern University assistant professor Samuel Scarpino. 

Northeastern University School of Law Dean James Hackney expects more states to follow. “We are prepared to support our students as they navigate through the flood of information regarding the changes of date and process,” Hackney said.

Sam Scarpino, a professor at Northeastern University who models infectious diseases, described these as “superspreader events” — situations where some factor, usually something to do with the location rather than the people themselves, boosts the number of cases in a sudden burst. 

Dr. Kristen Lee is the lead faculty for behavioral science at Northeastern University.

“I think that number is probably optimistic,” said Samuel Scarpino, an assistant professor at Northeastern University who studies networks and complex systems, including the spread of infectious diseases.

“The vast majority of the decline…to the Boston Police would have to do with the fact that people are not outside, they’re not having encounters with strangers,” said James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University.

But they entrusted this group of scientists, led by Dan Distel, a shipworm marine biologist and director of Northeastern’s Ocean Genome Legacy Center, with the highly guarded coordinates for that day’s expedition.   A front would arrive that afternoon, but during that narrow window on Tuesday morning, it was safe enough for the 46-foot ship to circle over the […]

Now the forest whispers secrets of the gulf’s past environment and climate, and hints at its future. Few have seen it, and those who have intentionally keep its precise location secret. But they entrusted this group of scientists, led by Dan Distel, a shipworm marine biologist and director of Northeastern’s Ocean Genome Legacy Center, with […]

The most immediate challenge is getting it right. “It’s actually really hard to get useful prospective data from social media,” says Northeastern University computer scientist Clark Freifeld, who cofounded HealthMap with Brownstein.

Wendy Parmet, a public-health law professor at Northeastern University in Boston, said travel restrictions or measures at the state level can be discriminatory. She said the Constitution gives the power to regulate interstate travel and commerce to the federal government, not the states.

That’s according to Stephen Flynn, founding director of the Global Resilience Institute and professor at Northeastern University. He’s also a professor of political science.

Wendy Parmet, Distinguished Professor of Law, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, agrees. “Even where local authorities have very broad home rule and emergency power, you can still make the case they are exercising it in a discriminatory way,” Parmet says. “That’s going to be deeply problematic from a legal perspective.”