HOME /

News

Computerized Map Predicts Next COVID-19 Outbreak

April 13, 2021

Predicting whether an outbreak is likely to happen is now possible with the COVID-19 Outbreak Detection Tool, a map that shows the coming hotspots for the disease, if accurate data is available.  VOA’s Elizabeth Lee interviewed Turgay Ayer and Jagpreet Chhatwal.

More details available here: https://www.voanews.com/episode/computerized-map-predicts-next-covid-19-outbreak-4656696

Read more about Computerized Map Predicts Next COVID-19 Outbreak

Mass. General Hospital Builds COVID-19 Simulator To Help Predict Impact of Policy Decisions

April 30, 2020

Gov. Charlie Baker says this week he will begin discussing when non-essential businesses may begin reopening across the state. In his press conference on Saturday, Baker said rules for reopening need to be put in place, and that Massachusetts needs to see a reduction of infection and hospitalizations over a significant period of time.

To help with the state's decision regarding when and how to take action, researchers at...

Read more about Mass. General Hospital Builds COVID-19 Simulator To Help Predict Impact of Policy Decisions

US News: Opioid death toll could top 700,000 over a decade

February 10, 2019

TACKLING PRESCRIPTION drug abuse will hardly make a dent in America's ongoing opioid crisis in the coming years, a new study suggests.

"People who start using prescription opioids, at some point, may transition to the next stage, (and) as the supply-side shifts happen, we see increased availability of illicit opioids," says Jagpreet Chhatwal, an assistant professor at ...

Read more about US News: Opioid death toll could top 700,000 over a decade

Los Angeles Times: Even in best-case scenario, opioid overdose deaths will keep rising until 2022

February 9, 2019

A new projection of opioid overdose death rates suggests that even if there is steady progress in reducing prescription narcotic abuse across the country, the number of fatal overdoses — which reached 47,600 in 2017 — will rise sharply in the coming years.

No matter how you slice it, the nation’s opioid...

Read more about Los Angeles Times: Even in best-case scenario, opioid overdose deaths will keep rising until 2022

STAT: Generic hepatitis C meds really are very cost effective, study says

May 18, 2017

For the past three years, various governments and patient advocacy groups have clamored for lower-cost hepatitis C medicines, given the high cure rate for these pricey new drugs. Now, a new study finds that upfront treatment with cheaper generic versions can offer a substantial payback.

“We assumed [generics] would be cost effective, given their high cure rates, but we wanted to know how quickly they saved costs,” said Jagpreet Chhatwal, a scientist at the Institute for Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital and one of the co-authors. “The results are not...

Read more about STAT: Generic hepatitis C meds really are very cost effective, study says