Respiratory virus season is approaching, on top of ever-expanding measles outbreaks and continuing vaccine misinformation, including from the highest levels of government. It’s a lot for health journalists to cover, and audiences have many questions. This webinar, with infectious disease experts Jesse Goodman (Georgetown University and the Expert Vaccine Analysis Team – EVAT), Fiona Havers (Emory University), Paul Offit (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and EVAT), and immunologist Elisabeth Marnik (The Evidence Collective), will provide answers on whether COVID vaccines will be recommended and available to everyone and at what cost; what we know about the new mRNA flu vaccine and its safety; and the best course for expectant parents, among other topics.
We’ll also share the facts about the ongoing measles outbreak and related deaths in Pennsylvania, whether the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine is likely to split into three different shots, and generally address misinformation, rumors, and misconceptions about vaccines and infectious diseases. Join us to get the answers to these questions and, perhaps most importantly, learn how to address false information and present the facts in engaging, matter-of-fact, accessible ways.
October 6 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT
Tara Haelle
AHCJ’s Health Beat Leader for Infectious Diseases and Medical Studies
Tara Haelle is AHCJ’s health beat leader for infectious diseases and medical studies. She’s an independent science/health journalist, author, speaker, and photographer. Her work has appeared in the National Geographic, Scientific American, Texas Monthly, Science News, Medscape/WebMD, The New York Times, Wired, and O Magazine, among others. She specializes in public health and medical research, particularly vaccines, infectious disease, maternal and pediatric health, mental health, healthcare disparities, and misinformation. She also covers medical research conferences and edits Long COVID Connection on Medium. Haelle earned a master’s in photojournalism from the University of Texas at Austin, and her images have appeared in Texas Monthly, NPR, the, Chicago Sun-Times and elsewhere.
Jesse Goodman, M.D., MPH
Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases and Attending Physician at Georgetown University
Jesse L. Goodman, MD, MPH is Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases and Attending Physician at Georgetown University. He was previously Chief of Infectious Diseases at the University of Minnesota where his laboratory isolated the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis.
From 2003-9 he served as Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), regulating vaccines, blood and cell and gene therapies, and then as Chief Scientist of the US FDA until 2014, serving in US leadership for numerous public health responses. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and has served on numerous WHO, CDC, NIH, NAM and other advisory committees and previously served as a member of GSK’s board, chairing its science committee.
Fiona Havers, M.D.
Infectious Diseases Physician, Emory University School of Medicine; Attending Physician, Grady Memorial Hospital
Fiona Havers, MD, MHS, FIDSA, is an infectious diseases physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Emory University School of Medicine. She is a former medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Havers is a senior subject matter expert on vaccine-preventable respiratory diseases and vaccine policy. She was the CDC lead of the Respiratory Virus Hospitalization Surveillance Network (RESP-NET) Team in the Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division within the U.S. CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Dr. Havers oversaw the COVID-19 and RSV platforms within RESP-NET, a population-based surveillance platform that covers ~9% of the US population and collects data on COVID-19, RSV, and influenza-associated hospitalizations. Dr. Havers left CDC in June 2025.
The author of >100 publications while at CDC, Dr. Havers’ research interests have focused on the epidemiology, prevention, treatment and vaccine policy for vaccine-preventable respiratory pathogens, including influenza, pertussis, RSV and SARS-CoV-2. She was previously the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) Work Group lead for the Pertussis Vaccines Work Group and has worked extensively on COVID-19 and adult RSV vaccine policy, including as senior author on the initial adult RSV vaccine ACIP policy recommendations published in 2023.
Paul A. Offit, M.D.
Director, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Education Center
Paul A. Offit, M.D., is the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Offit is currently a voting member on the FDA’s Vaccine Advisory Committee and has previously served on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices to the CDC. He is also the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq, recommended for universal use in infants by the CDC in 2006 and by the WHO in 2013. This vaccine was estimated recently to save about 165,000 lives a year. He is also the author of 11 books written for the public about science, medicine, and vaccines.
Elisabeth Marnik, Ph.D.
Executive Director, The Evidence Collective
Dr. Elisabeth Adkins Marnik is a science communicator and immunologist working at the intersection of public trust, science, and public health. She earned her PhD in genetics and immunology from Tufts University.
Raised in a family that distrusted science and vaccines, Liz brings a personal understanding of hesitancy to her work. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she launched Science Whiz Liz to help the public navigate emerging health information, combining lived experience with scientific expertise. Liz now leads national efforts to translate evidence into clear, responsible, and empathetic public communication. She is an inaugural member of the National Academy of Medicine’s Action Collaborative on Building Trust in Health Science Through Community Partnership and Lived Experience and was named to Mainebiz’s 2025 40 Under 40 for her leadership in science education and public engagement.