As the world contends with the COVID-19 pandemic, everything from teaching and learning to family game nights have seemingly gone virtual. Now more than ever people are using technology to stay connected.
Over the last number of weeks, a number of events and programs across the university have been digitally transformed, including the Open Dialogue program.
Open Dialogue Live is a new online series featuring Dalhousie University experts and focused on current events. Each weekly episode will be livestreamed on the Dalhousie University Alumni and Friends Facebook page. Participants will have an opportunity to engage in the conversation by asking the experts questions.
And while people won’t be physically together for the events, the spirit of the Open Dialogue program remains unchanged: an opportunity to bring people together for thought-provoking conversations focused on timely and important issues.
At the forefront of COVID-19
The series began on Thursday, April 9 at with David and Alyson Kelvin, father and daughter virologists who are at the forefront of the COVID-19 effort. Both are engaged in "rapid response" science—fast-tracked federal funding paired with swift collaboration with scientists around the globe working on the pandemic.
Dr. David Kelvin, a professor in Dalhousie’s Faculty of Medicine, is one of three Dalhousie principal investigators who received Canadian Institutes of Health Research rapid-response funding for COVID-19 research. His immediate goal is to identify biomarkers and develop a point-of-care device that staff in emergency departments can use to quickly predict if people presenting with the disease will have a mild or severe case. This innovation could be a vital asset in the delivery of care at emergency rooms and ICUs and allow doctors to immediately direct patients to the appropriate unit.
Dr. Alyson Kelvin, an assistant professor in Dalhousie’s Department of Pediatrics, with an adjunct appointment in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, is part of a research team working at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization—International Vaccine Centre at the University of Saskatchewan. She and her team from Dalhousie are moving forward with testing a vaccine for human trial.
What’s to come
The first six episodes of the series will be focused on COVID-19, bringing Dalhousie thought-leaders together to discuss a variety of topics, including: food and agriculture, vulnerable populations and navigating misinformation during a pandemic.
Event details are continuing to unfold and will be available on the Open Dialogue Live events page. For anyone who can’t join the live sessions, recordings will be accessible following each event.
For more info on upcoming events, follow Dalhousie Alumni and Friends on Facebook.
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