With the swift spread of COVID-19 and mandated social distancing orders, UB faculty experts have responded in a major way, helping local, national and international news media inform the public about critical issues related to the pandemic.

Since Feb. 1, UB faculty have appeared in more than 1,000 print, digital and broadcast news stories about the coronavirus situation.

Stories in The Washington Post, NPR, Al Jazeera, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Yahoo! News, ABC News, The Buffalo News and other news outlets have reached millions of people. Erin Hatton, associate professor of sociology and an expert on labor movements, appeared live on C-SPAN at UB’s broadcast news studio to discuss how the virus is hurting gig economy workers.

Equally as important, UB faculty have been a tremendous resource in explaining the many complexities of the pandemic to the Western New York community. News media around the world contact University Communications daily to requests interviews with UB faculty whose expertise is described on a COVID-19 Faculty Experts webpage. Faculty from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences have been regularly sought out for their expertise, as have faculty from the social sciences for commentary on the pandemic’s societal impacts, and faculty from the School of Management who have provided wide-ranging analysis of the economic effects.

One of the most active faculty experts has been Thomas Russo, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Medicine at the Jacobs School. Russo’s expertise in all aspects of infectious diseases has made him a highly sought-after voice for national and local media outlets.

Despite an extremely busy schedule, he has made it a personal mission to answer as many media requests as possible. So far, he has handled more 50 media interviews regarding the pandemic, including several from The Washington Post. Topics have ranged from COVID-19 testing to the safety of face masks.

“The requests are important and I feel this is a crucial role for me to play in this process given my background and knowledge base,” Russo says.

He cites three separate areas as reasons to work with the news media.

“Informing the public on how to best protect oneself and loved ones, and to educate our community about the status of the outbreak in Western New York,” he says. “Lastly, to convey in understandable terms what we know and, most importantly, what we still do not know about this evolving pandemic and novel virus.”

As the crisis situation continues to unfold, there is enormous fear and uncertainty. Many UB faculty see their role as a form of public service. For them, being available to news reporters who are trying to help people be safe and make sense of the pandemic is an opportunity to demonstrate the university’s empathy, humanity and leadership to Western New York and the rest of the world.