Centre for Research on Pandemics & Society (PANSOC)
An OsloMet Centre of Research Excellence studying the societal aspects of pandemics
Friday the 3rd of March, 3 PANSOC members presented their work in the session “Short- and long-term social and demographic of the 1918 influenza pandemic, see more info on this an other sesssions here: ESHD2022 Final Programme – ESHD2022 Conference
Fra 15 august 2022 til 30 Juni 2023 skal senterleder Mamelund lede en forskergruppe på Centre for Advanced Study – CAS. I forbindelse med dette prosjektet har vi vært så heldige å få de verdensledende toppforskerne Jeffrey Tauenberger og John Oxford til å gi gjesteforelesninger om jakten på viruset som forårsaket spanskesyken på Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi 8 november 2022. I vedlagte lenke kan dere 1) lese mer om de to foredragsholderne og deres foredrag og 2) og allerede nå melde dere på om dere vil delta på arrangementet.
PANSOC has just hosted the second NHDM. The first NHDM was held in Trondheim 1-2 December 2019. The planned meetings in 2020 and 2021 were postponed due to COVID-19, but was held this rime on Zoom 17-18 January and planned and organized by PANSOC. Carla Huges, Christina Stylegar, Jessica Dimka and Svenn-Erik Mamelund were PANSOC members presenting, see program below:
PROGRAM:
Monday 17 January
12:00-12:15 Opening by Svenn-Erik Mamelund (OsloMet)
12:15-13:00 Missing Girls
13:00-13:45 Influenza
13:45-14:00 Break
14:15-15:00 Social mobility
Tuesday 18 January
09:00-09:45 Missing Girls
09:45-10:30 Influenza
10:30-10:45 Break
10:45-12:00 Causes of death, social class and living conditions
12:00 Closing by Svenn-Erik Mamelund (OsloMet)
We at PANSOC will present our academic output for 2021 at Oslo Metropolitan University Researcher Day on the 29 November. See more here: OsloMet Research Day 2021 – OsloMet
Last month, Carla Louise Hughes, Nan Zou Bakkeli, and Jessica Dimka talked about PANSOC research related to mental health and pandemics, as part of OsloMet’s marking of World Mental Health Day. The lunch seminar (lunsjpåfyll) was organized by the University Library, and a video is available here: https://filmet.no/lunsjpafyll-mental-health-and
The three PANSOC-affiliated masters students, Carla Hughes, Lara Steinmetz and Christina Torjussen, all presented their projects at a pandemic research student conference in Bergen 27. October. We at PANSOC are super-proud of the all and Christina even won a prize for her work and presentation.
What can we learn from the history of pandemics and the Covid-19 situation? Three short panel talks from 3 PANSOC researchers will be given followed by a panel conversation. Organizer is OsloMet University library. You can read more about the event here: Mental health and pandemics – OsloMet
The influenza pandemics of 1918 and 2009, as well as the ongoing COVID-19, show that Indigenous people have extremely high risk of severe disease outcomes, but the reasons for this vulnerability are unclear. This week, the head of PANSOC, Svenn-Erik Mamelund, will hold a talk on Indigenous people & Pandemics for the “Indigenous Peoples and Development Branch, Division for Inclusive Social Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, at the United Nations in New York”
The influenza pandemic hit the native communities in Alaska hard. These children in an orphanage in Nushagak, Alaska, lost their parents. Summer of 1919. Source: Alaska Historical Library
In August 2022 to June 2023, Mamelund will also lead a CAS-project on this topic. You can read more here:
Social science meets biology: indigenous people and severe influenza outcomes – CAS
Why do Indigenous people have high risk of severe influenza? – CAS,
Announcing the CAS projects 2022/23: from influenza to peace-and-conflict, and algebra – CAS
In this key-note titled “Social Disparities & Pandemics, Mamelund will 1) present results showing that social inequality was a forgotten factor in pandemic preparedness before the COVID-19 pandemic, and speculate why this was the case; 2) present results on the social inequalities in COVID-19 pandemic disease burden and call for more research on the distal and proximal causes of these disparities; and 3) discuss how we can take both medical and social vulnerability into account in pandemic preparedness to be better prepared for the next pandemic.
To register for the conference, see here: Annual Posthumus Conference 2021 ‘Epidemics and Social Inequality’, 20-21 May – N.W. Posthumus Institute (ru.nl)
In a call for expression of interest for writing MSCA proposals on pandemic studies this Spring, we got 20 applications and offered three candidates the opportunity to work on their applications with us. Today the candidates presented their drafts at an internal PANSOC webinar. We all believe that they have high chances of success when they submit their proposals in September.
