Moulton Forms Coronavirus Advisory Team
Panel of experts to help shape policy and advise on best practices
SALEM, Mass. – Today, Representative Seth Moulton announced the formation of a Coronavirus Advisory Team. The members will help Moulton develop policies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and field questions from Moulton’s Congressional District and across the country. The team begins their work with a conference call this afternoon.
“This is an unprecedented crisis. I asked my team to find the best group of experts in the country to advise us on how we can respond to it. From nurses and first responders to firefighters, school superintendents, and bartenders out of work, Americans demand and deserve answers,” Moulton said. “The government has been too reactive, so I’ve tried to push my team to get ahead of the pandemic. This Advisory Team will help us continue to be out in front solving problems. That’s how we beat this virus.”
The following people have joined the Coronavirus Advisory Team:
Dr. Paul Farmer, physician and anthropologist, is chief strategist and co-founder of Partners In Health, Kolokotrones University Professor and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Farmer also serves as U.N. Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Community-based Medicine and Lessons from Haiti. Dr. Farmer has written extensively on health, human rights, and the consequences of social inequality. In yesterday’s Boston Globe, Dr. Farmer calls for “expert mercy” to save the sick and slow the spread of coronavirus.
James Ellard, CEO of New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB) a biotech company based in the Sixth Congressional District that is a world leader in the discovery and production of enzymes for molecular biology applications, including reagents that enable researchers working to develop better diagnostic tests and vaccines for the COVID-19 virus. Ellard joined NEB in 1984 as a production scientist working to purify and optimize enzymes essential for DNA manipulation. He has more than two decades of experience in business, communications and strategic planning in the Life Science industry.
Dr. Alain Chaoui, M.D. is a Boxford resident, family physician, and the president of Congenial Healthcare, LLC, a private practice group with 50,000 patients from across the North Shore. Dr. Chaoui is the immediate past President of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Late last week, together with his partners and with the help of the office staff, Congenial healthcare stood up one of the first drive-through Coronavirus testing centers in the state.
Dr Chaoui said: “In light of this unprecedented pandemic, I implore patients to always get information from their doctor and trusted resources such as the CDC, Massachusetts DPH, and Massachusetts Medical Society. There is a lot of incomplete and misinformation out there. Remember: Your doctor knows you and has your best interest in mind.”
Dr. Erin Sorrell, Ph.D., a virologist and assistant professor at Georgetown University, works for Georgetown’s Center for Global Health Science and Security and in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Georgetown University. Dr. Sorrell works with partners across the U.S. government, international organizations, and ministries around the world to develop and strengthen their capacities to detect and surveil infectious diseases.
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