This week’s guest expert has been managing outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics throughout her career. Meet Dr. Utpala Bandy, the Medical Director for the Division of Preparedness, Response, Infectious Diseases, and Emergency Medical Services at the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH). Dr. Bandy gives a tour of her healthcare experiences from around the globe, including her education and the onset of her career in India, and the front-line training she received throughout the United Kingdom and America.  

At RIDOH, Dr. Bandy has played a critical part in managing outbreaks and epidemics throughout the state’s recent history. Co-hosts Dr. Jim McDonald and Dr. Philip Chan ask her about a rabies outbreak that threatened Rhode Island’s domestic animals and wildlife in the 90s, a salmonella outbreak in 2010 that changed the food industry’s equipment standards nationwide, and, what many call the outbreak most comparable to COVID-19, the H1N1 virus.  

Dr. Bandy has also been an invaluable  "healthcare hero behind the scenes" at RIDOH during the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. How does the COVID-19 response compare to previous outbreak responses? How long could we be living with COVID-19 as an endemic disease? Download this week’s episode to learn more.