Ecology pioneer to speak at ASU Biodesign Institute as part of lecture series

Now in its sixth year, the Arizona State University Biodesign Institute’s annual Arntzen Grand Challenges Lecture Series welcomes distinguished researchers to discuss the latest developments in nature-inspired science, research and solutions development. Established through the support of the Biodesign Institute’s founding director, Charles Arntzen, the lecture series invites attendees to reconsider how they view cutting-edge science.

This year’s lecture will take place on Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Rob and Melani Walton Center for Planetary Health and features Barbara Han, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. She will examine how global societies can prepare for infectious diseases we've never encountered, emerging in unexpected places and carried by animals we barely understand. 

“Multiple components contribute to 'disease emergence,'” Han said. “Even if we can perfectly predict the environmental components — animal hosts, pathogens, likely locations of spillover — that underlie disease transmission and emergence, without a better understanding of human behavior and social systems, anticipating when a disease (turns into a) pandemic will remain very difficult. The human side remains as difficult as ever, and possibly more so given how rapidly misinformation now spreads.”

Han’s work emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach, connecting ecologists, data scientists, virologists and social scientists. 

“I am convinced that science is as much about learning to listen to and work with diverse people as it is about researching diverse topics,” she said. “Interdisciplinary research takes time and patience, but it’s essential for addressing the biggest societal challenges of our time.”

Her path to becoming a disease ecologist began with an interest in health and disease. She says her experience with various professors and mentors during her undergraduate and graduate years was instrumental in her development as a scientist.

“I have always been interested in health and disease,” Han said. “I credit my comprehensive natural sciences education at Pepperdine University and the research experiences provided to me by my undergraduate advisor there, Lee Kats, as crucial for my decision to go to graduate school and pursue disease ecology. I also learned about disease ecology from a guest lecturer (Andrew Blaustein), who later became my graduate advisor for my PhD.”

Despite the large scale of a problem like disease pandemics, Han remains hopeful about the future of pandemic preparedness.

“The resilience of the scientific enterprise continues to give me hope,” she said. “Whether we are responding to outbreak emergencies or to attacks on science funding, scientists continue to think about the hard questions — like how to better protect societies from the instabilities that epidemics bring, and what knowledge needs to be advanced to safeguard all communities (animals and humans) from pandemics.”