The online series #Italiandigitaltownhall continues. It is dedicated to Italians in the front line against Covid-19 in the United States.
After the meeting of last May 15 dedicated to New York, the Ambassador of Italy in Washington, Armando Varricchio, opened the second appointment, dedicated to the Italian community of Boston and New England, in the presence of the Consul General of Italy, Federica Sereni. The city of Massachusetts, home to a large Italian-American community and world-renowned universities at the forefront of scientific-technological research, was also one of the most affected by the pandemic in the United States of America.
The panellists Alessio Fasano (Professor of Paediatrics at MGH – Harvard Medical School and Professor of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health), Maurizio Fava (Director of the Department of Psychiatry at MGH and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School) and Alessandro Vespignani (Professor of Computational Epidemiology at Northeastern University) gave rise to an interesting debate on the medical-health response to the pandemic in the Boston metropolitan area. They enriched the scientific explanations with personal experiences and answering the many questions of the public.
Professor Vespignani retraced the studies conducted by his team, which allowed to trace and predict the evolution of the pandemic. Prof. Fava illustrated some of the psychological consequences of the sudden and forced change in our life habits and the uncertainties (mainly economic) caused by the crisis. Prof. Fasano, with his analysis, contributed to clarifying diagnostic, clinical and treatment aspects of the Covid-19 infection. The discussion among panellists was moderated by Dante Roscini, Professor of International Economics at Harvard Business School, who stimulated the conversation and collected questions from the numerous participants (more than 150 people were connected live via Zoom and Facebook, while there were about 1400 views).
In his closing remarks, Ambassador Varricchio highlighted that this conversation represents “a new opportunity to confirm how our excellences are key reference points, not only for our communities abroad, like those in Boston and New England but also for the communities where they live. In this painful juncture, their tireless work and professional experience have been a beacon”.
The series #italiandigitaltownhall will continue in the next days with new dates:
– San Francisco (4 June)
To watch the first meeting click here
