Special Seminar: Building Resilient Health Systems: Advancing Real-Time Data and Surveillance for Crisis Preparedness
Prativa Baral, PhD
Faculty Associate
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
WHEN: Friday, February 17, 2025, from 3 to 4 p.m. EST
WHERE: In-Person | 2001 McGill College, Rm 1135 |
Abstract
Global health policies are often built on the premise of being evidence-based, but in reality, fragmented and outdated information systems undermine their effectiveness鈥攑articularly during crises like pandemics. Drawing on my work with the World Bank, Johns Hopkins University, and the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, I will demonstrate how adaptive, real-time data systems have the potential to drastically improve crisis preparedness and response. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my team and I conducted 鈥渓ive鈥� rapid-cycle health facility assessments in 20+ countries, revealing substantial variability in health systems readiness and capacity to respond to crises. I will discuss efforts to implement scalable surveillance tools, and a vision for developing a pathogen-agnostic surveillance network to ensure the availability of timely, accurate information during health emergencies. This talk will demonstrate how enhancing global health information systems through scalable data systems and forward-looking surveillance networks can build more resilient health systems, directly supporting PERL's mission to improve global health preparedness and crisis response.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Prativa Baral is an infectious disease epidemiologist and faculty associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, specializing in global health policy, health systems resilience, and pandemic preparedness. Her research and policy contributions have shaped pandemic research and policy response strategies domestically and internationally across multiple organizations, including the Canadian COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, WHO, World Bank, Gates Foundation and OpenAI.
Most recently, she led the secretariat of an expert panel convened by the Royal Society of Canada and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences to define . Previously, she had advised the government of Canada in developing the first Canadian global health research strategy (). She is also the co-founder of Let Science Connect, a science communications social enterprise.
Dr. Baral is a sought-after speaker and expert panelist, frequently contributing to major domestic and global meetings, including at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos. She holds a PhD from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MPH from Columbia University and a BSc from McGill University.
