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AMS Holds Congressional Briefing

The American Mathematical Society's annual Congressional Briefing was given on December 13, 2016 by Mac Hyman, Professor of Mathematics at Tulane University.The briefing, entitled “How Mathematical Models Predict Emerging Epidemics,” was held for Congressional members and staff.

Hyman explained in this briefing that public health workers are reaching out to scientists for better models that can help guide mitigation efforts to stop the spread of emerging infections. Mathematicians are responding by deriving equations for virtual computer worlds that can be used to anticipate the spread of new diseases and evaluate the effectiveness of different approaches for bringing an epidemic under control. He described what current models can, and cannot, do and shared his personal experiences in collaborating with public health workers to mitigate the spread of Zika, Ebola, HIV/AIDS, Chlamydia, and influenza.

The AMS holds annual congressional briefings as a means to communicate information to policymakers. Speakers discuss the importance of mathematics research and present their work in layman's terms to Congressional staff as a way to inform Members of Congress of how mathematics impacts today's important issues.

Other Congressional Briefings:

Beginning in 2017, the AMS is partnering with MSRI to organize and host bi-annual briefings; prior to 2017, the AMS hosted annual briefings.