Marc Lipsitch

When Lipsitch observed the government’s lackluster pandemic response back in spring 2020, the Harvard epidemiologist helped fill the void by providing timely, accurate information to the public via social media and news outlets. Since then, Lipsitch has become one of the most trusted voices in the U.S. on Covid-19. Last year, he took the helm as inaugural director of science at the CDC’s new Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics, which has been likened to the National Weather Service, but for infectious diseases. A core tenet of his work is transparency. The center has started publishing technical briefs offering insights into evolving outbreaks and sharing preliminary results of new analyses in hopes that more up-to-date information clearly identifying areas of uncertainty will help foster public trust.