Mia Tellmann in Tokyo, Japan
Welcome to my blog!
My name is Mia Tellmann. I’m a high school student with a strong interest in pandemics and biodefense. Having grown up on three continents, I have seen firsthand how hard it can be for people in different countries to understand each other and coordinate. Biodefense and pandemics are perfect examples of this problem. They always have a local source and yet global coordination is needed to solve them.
Since becoming interested in this area, I have read books on the topic, such as Jeffrey R. Ryan’s “Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Containing and Preventing Biological Threats”, and completed undergraduate level online courses in global health from Harvard and the Karolinska Institute.
I keep myself updated by subscribing to weekly newsletters from the CDC and the George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government Biodefense Program.
During the summer of 2018, I started an independent research project that considered how public health systems in different countries approach the subject of pandemics and preparedness for deliberate events. I interviewed several public health experts in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Norway and Canada. Some of these interviews are featured on my blog.
By conducing this research, I realized how complex the problem of global public health and pandemic preparedness is and how much global commitment and coordination is involved.
I hope to share what I learn with you. Thank you for visiting!
Mia