Alessandro Vespignani

David Lazer, University Distinguished Professor of political science and computer and information science, left, and Alessandro Vespignani, Sternberg Family Distinguished University Professor of physics, computer science, and health sciences, spoke on a panel about the effects of COVID-19. Photos by Adam Glanzman/Northeastern University

They’re modeling how the pandemic will play out–and what we think about it

One night last February, on his way to a yoga class, professor David Lazer poked his head into the office…

by Emily Arntsen October 15, 2020

Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

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

Alessandro Vespignani is the Sternberg Family Distinguished University Professor of physics, computer science, and health sciences, and director of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

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

Northeastern joins the Trinity Challenge as founding partner to stop the next pandemic before it starts

The Trinity Challenge, a global public health initiative and competition, is bringing together partners such as Microsoft, Google, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, research universities, and organizations in the public and private sectors, with the united goal to get ahead of the next pandemic.

by Emily Arntsen September 13, 2020

Commuters wearing face masks to protect against the new coronavirus walk across an intersection in the central business district in Beijing. AP Photo by Mark Schiefelbein

Why is China containing COVID-19 better than the US?

“The reduction of contacts among the population is what has really abated the epidemic in China,” says Alessandro Vespignani, who directs Northeastern’s Network Science Institute. “‘Social distancing’ works.”

by Laura Castañón and Eunice Esomonu June 26, 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

This map, created by Alessandro Vespignani and his team, predicts the number of infections in different parts of the U.S., assuming

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

Subway customers wear masks on a crowded car heading downtown, on March 17, 2020, in New York. AP Photo by John Minchillo

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

President Donald J. Trump points to a chart as he speaks about the coronavirus on Tuesday, as Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, look on. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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

Ken Henderson, university chancellor (top left), and Joseph E. Aoun, university president (bottom right), led a virtual town hall-style meeting for faculty and staff to commend their efforts amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and provide updates for the future. Screenshot by Northeastern University

‘Our university is here, and our opportunity is to reinvent higher education’

In times of crisis, members of the Northeastern community band together to help each other through—while using the experience to learn and plan for the future, said Joseph E. Aoun, president of the university, during a virtual town hall-style meeting Wednesday evening.

by Molly Callahan March 25, 2020