Najam Interviewed on VOA Radio on Pandemic Modeling
Prof. Adil Najam, dean of the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed by the Voice of America for its Urdu radio service on global efforts to combat COVID-19. The interview was broadcast on March 31, 2020.
Najam talked about the policy use, limitations, and uncertainties of predictive models for pandemics. He pointed out that it is dangerous to confuse models with predictions without understanding the underlying assumptions in much models. He pointed out that this was especially the case for COVID-19 because it is such a new and uncharted phenomenon.
Najam suggested that the best use of such models in policy is to think of them as scenario builders and in understanding the different scenarios which may result from different assumptions, policy makers can derive appropriate policy options for implementation.
Adil Najam is the inaugural dean on the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, and had earlier served at the Vice Chancellor of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). More on Dean Adil Najam here.