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    March 25, 2020 The Modern Law Library

    What should you read about COVID-19? We asked an epidemiologist

    By Lee Rawles

    With a barrage of information and misinformation about COVID-19 coming our way, it can be hard to evaluate what sources are trustworthy and where to go for reliable medical news. So for this new episode of the Modern Law Library, the ABA Journal's Lee Rawles called her friend Mary Lancaster, an epidemiologist for the federal government.

    They discuss how to evaluate social media claims, the best books and podcasts for people who want to know more about infectious diseases—and their recommendations on good fiction reads for people who need to take a break from the coronavirus news.

    Lancaster also shared a list of some of the people she follows on Twitter, for more breaking news. She broke them into categories:

    Bioethics, Health Law, Policy

    Outbreaks

    Epidemiologists and Infectious Disease Experts

    Virologists and Microbiologists

    In This Podcast:

    Lee Rawles
    Mary Lancaster manages the Strategic Engagements and Emerging Threats portfolio for the Biological Threat Reduction Program at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Previously, Lancaster was the AFRICOM science manager for the BTRP, managing its cooperative biological research portfolio in Africa and working with collaborators in 10 countries to strengthen biosurveillance capabilities and reduce the threat of pathogens of security concern. She also led the development of the 3rd Africa One Health Congress, held in Johannesburg in February 2019. From 2010 to 2015, Lancaster was a research scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Prior to joining the PNNL, Lancaster was the regional epidemiologist in the West Tennessee Region of the Tennessee Department of Health from 2006 to 2010.