As the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate headlines and news coverage, the University of South Florida offers a variety of faculty experts for stories related to the virus. Our hope is that by participating in interviews with the press, our faculty can help educate and inform the public about many aspects of the rapidly evolving situation.
Members of the media who are interested in an interview with USF Health faculty should contact Sarah Worth: sworth@usf.edu or 813-928-0861. For all other faculty requests, please contact Althea Paul: altheapaul@usf.edu or 305-495-0306.
Clinical
- Charles Lockwood (USF Health, Morsani College of Medicine) is senior vice president for USF Health and dean of the Morsani College of Medicine. He can talk about the impact on patients, telehealth, antibody testing and nucleic acid testing.
- Donna Petersen (College of Public Health) is senior associate vice president for USF Health and dean of the College of Public Health. Her areas of expertise include overall public health, epidemics/pandemics, state public health policy.
- Christian Brechot (Morsani College of Medicine) is senior associate dean for Research in Global Affairs, and is president of the Global Virus Network. He can speak about evolving research, implications for curbing the pandemic, along with potential treatments and vaccines for COVID-19.
- John Sinnott (Morsani College of Medicine) is professor and chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, and is an infectious disease specialist. Dr. Sinnott can talk about COVID-19, overall viruses, current infectious data, the history of infectious diseases/other pandemics.
- Seetha Lakshmi (Morsani College of Medicine) is an assistant professor of internal medicine. She can discuss all health aspects of coronavirus.
- Andrew Myers (Morsani College of Medicine) is an assistant professor of internal medicine. He specializes in hospital medicine and can talk about the medical care of hospitalized patients, as well as coronavirus.
- Michael Teng (Morsani College of Medicine) is an associate professor of molecular medicine and associate dean of internal medicine. He specializes in virology.
- Ana Paula Velez (Morsani College of Medicine) is an associate professor in the division of infectious disease and she speaks Spanish.
-
Kami Kim (Morsani College of Medicine) is professor of medicine (infectious disease and global health) and professor in the Center for Global Health & Infectious Disease. As a physician-scientist, Dr. Kim can address both the basic science and patient care aspects of coronavirus: overall COVID-19, patient care, testing.
COVID-19 Data
- Jason Salemi (College of Public Health) is an associate professor of epidemiology who has built a comprehensive dashboard for COVID-19 cases, testing, hospitalizations, deaths, vaccinations, and variants in Florida (https://covid19florida.mystrikingly.com/). His areas of expertise include translation of COVID-19 data and trends into easy-to-digest summaries for various stakeholders.
Education
- Anna Torrens Armstrong (College of Public Health) is an assistant professor who can discuss how to talk to children about the virus, including children who’ve experienced trauma, and how to better protect children with special needs/medical issues.
Law/Policy and Ethics
- Jay Wolfson (College of Public Health) is a distinguished service professor and can talk about healthcare policy, institutional capacity and responsiveness issues.
- Katherine Drabiak (College of Public Health) is an assistant professor and can discuss health law and medical ethics.
Preparedness
- Marissa Levine (College of Public Health) is a professor and director of the Center for Leadership in Public Health Practice. Her areas of expertise include community preparation and prevention efforts.
-
Thomas Unnasch (College of Public Health) is Distinguished USF Health Professor in the College of Public Health, and he can speak to overall viruses, modeling/projecting hospital beds during current pandemic (Hillsborough County).
- Miguel Reina Ortiz (College of Public Health) is an assistant professor and can discuss global health practice and global communicable diseases.
-
Summer Decker (Morsani College of Medicine) is associate professor of radiology and director of the 3D Clinical Applications Lab at USF Health. Dr. Decker helped created and develop a 3D printed nasal swab to for COVID-19 testing. Clinical use of 3D printing, COVID-19 use of 3D printed nasal swabs.
- Tom Mason (College of Public Health) is a professor who can talk about disaster management: preparedness, response and recovery.
- Jill Roberts (College of Public Health) is a professor of environmental health who specializes in emerging diseases. She can speak on a variety of public health topics, including disease preparedness and prevention.
Biology
- Hossam Ashour (College of Arts and Sciences – St Petersburg) is an associate professor who teaches conservation biology. He can compare COVID-19 to other similar outbreaks.
Business
- Donna Davis (Muma College of Business) is a professor of marketing and supply chain management. She can discuss the movement of goods and services.
- Robert Tiller (Muma College of Business) is a Raymond James Financial Director of the Personal Financial Planning Program. His areas of expertise include personal financial planning and finance.
- Balaji Padmanabhan (Muma College of Business) is a professor and director of the Center for Analytics and Creativity. He can talk about the Tampa Bay regional economy.
- Michelle Harrolle (Muma College of Business) is an instructor and director of the Vinik Sport & Entertainment Management Program. She can discuss marketing, sales and fundraising in sports and entertainment.
- Leo Chen (Muma College of Business) is director of the Student Managed Investment Fund and can talk about the stock market.
- Phil Trocchia (Kate Tiedemann College of Business-St Petersburg) is a marketing professor who can discuss retail and consumer behavior.
Economics
- Bradley Kamp (College of Arts and Sciences) is an associate professor and is chair of the Department of Economics. He can discuss general economics and the Tampa economy.
Elderly/Aging Population
- Kathryn Hyer (College of Behavioral and Community Sciences) is professor in the School of Aging Studies and director of the Florida Policy Exchange Center on Aging. She can discuss the susceptibilities of older adults to the virus.
- Kathy Black (College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences - Sarasota-Manatee) is a professor of aging studies and social work. Her expertise includes how older adults are coping and unique challenges faced by the aging populations who are most at risk.
- Jay Sokolovsky (College of Arts and Sciences – St Petersburg) is a professor of anthropology. His research areas include the anthropology of aging and age discrimination.
Political Communication
- Josh Scacco (College of Arts and Sciences) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication. He can talk about political campaigns, presidential communication and news media coverage.
Remote Learning
- Autar Kaw (College of Engineering) is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He can discuss the mechanics of online learning in higher education.
Social Media
- Kelli Burns (College of Arts and Sciences) is an associate professor in the Zimmerman School of Advertising & Mass Communications. Her expertise is focused on social media.
Mental Health
- Nick Joyce is a staff psychologist at the USF Counseling Center. He is an expert in telemental health and recently presented on the issue at the American Counseling Association’s national conference.
- Jennifer Bleck is director of the USF Success and Wellness Coaching Program and works with students on stress management, procrastination, and other health behaviors.
- Kristin Kosyluk (College of Behavioral and Community Sciences) is an assistant professor in the Department of Mental Health Law & Policy. She can comment on the basic need for human connectedness and maintaining connection while social distancing for mental wellness.
Tourism
- Cihan Cobanoglu (College of Hospitality & Tourism Leadership – Sarasota-Manatee) is a professor and director of the M3 Center for Hospitality Technology and Innovation. He can discuss the pandemic’s impact on the tourism and hospitality industries.
- Faizan Ali (College of Hospitality & Tourism Leadership – Sarasota-Manatee) is an assistant professor and can talk about impacts on the tourism and hospitality industries, with a special interest in customer experience and satisfaction.
Journalists looking to speak with experts on a variety of non-COVID-19 topics, can visit our full Experts Guide.