"UCD Pandemic Response: Past, Present, and Looking Forward"

David Coil, PhD

"David Coil received his bachelor's degree (1999) from Carleton College, MN in Biology and a doctorate (2005) in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Washington Seattle, working on retroviral gene therapy.  After teaching as a lecturer for a year, he did a postdoctoral fellowship at K.U. Leuven in Belgium, studying the bacteria that causes Legionnaires' Disease.  After a stint working on natural resource issues for a non-profit based in Alaska, David started at UC Davis (2011) in the lab of Jonathan Eisen to help establish the "Microbiology of the Built Environment Network," a transdisciplinary philanthropically funded project to better understand the microbes in buildings and other manmade structures.  In the ensuing years he worked on numerous microbiology projects including sending bacteria to the International Space Station and designing an educational microbiology board game, "Gut Check: The Microbiome Game." When the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, David found himself progressively drawn into the public health realm.  Starting with doing environmental testing for SARS-CoV-2 at the UCD Medical Center, David was then asked to help establish a large-scale asymptomatic COVID-19 testing program on campus.  This testing program eventually grew into Healthy Davis Together, then Healthy Yolo Together.  In 2022 David began a new role as the Public Health Coordinator for UC Davis, a position created in response to the pandemic and based out of Student Health and Counseling Services.  Currently, David is the Program Manager at the newly established NSF Center for Pandemic Insights, housed at the One Health Institute in the Vet School. This Center is focused on understanding and predicting how viruses circulate in the natural environment before they jump to humans. David also serves as the chair of the UCD "Strategic Readiness Committee," tasked with helping campus prepare for future emerging health crises."

Light refreshments will be served.

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