Since watching “Outbreak” as a young girl, Syra Madad has been fascinated with infectious diseases. Now a special pathogens expert, Madad works closely with local, state, national, and international organizations and the media to educate the public on pandemic preparedness and response.
Hayat Life Editor-in-Chief Fira Gasimova spoke with Syra Madad about her work before, during, and after the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic.
Madad remembers what inspired her to “run towards the fire” of infectious diseases.
Gasimova: I read that the film “Outbreak” inspired you to pursue your current career. Is that true? And what aspect of the film intrigued you most?
Madad: A couple of things inspired me at an early age to pursue the field of special pathogens, outbreak response, and emergency management. The movie “Outbreak” stood out to me as a young girl because, first, it was remarkable to see that a microbe brought communities to their knees. Something that you can’t even see with the naked eye, as small as a virus, can have a huge impact on lives and cause significant health and socioeconomic challenges.
Second, there’s the fact that you’re working in a high-risk, fast-paced environment, wearing hazmat suits. You’re running towards the fire versus running away from the fire. We need more people in these fields because we know that COVID-19 is not a one-off event. We need an army of people from diverse backgrounds who can help respond to or even prevent outbreaks from happening.
The final thing that intrigued me about the movie had to do with my faith. Being a Muslim, you’re inspired to help humanity. To me, it was a great way to give back to society. Working in this particular field, I’m not only helping people and shaping national policy but also building on my own skill set of resiliency and hard work.
Faith and family keep Madad grounded and motivated to do good.
Gasimova: Considering your close involvement in several long-term health crises. Do you find it impacts your mental health?
Madad: Absolutely. I think responding to and even preparing for an infectious disease outbreak, knowing that it’s looming, can have an impact. For example, we’re preparing for different viral hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fever, even though they haven’t reached our shores in the US recently. It has an impact on your mental health because these are high-consequence diseases where even one case is a house-on-fire situation. For me, it’s important to recognize that I’m working in a high-stress environment. Taking breaks is important, being around people that you love, and nurturing your spirit is important. Being a Muslim, I also pray daily, and I feel that when I offer my salat, it’s a way for me to meditate. It grounds me in my faith in God and humanity and what I do.
Gasimova: How else has your knowledge of disease influenced your personal life?
Madad: I’m a first generation American Muslim here in the US, and my parents are immigrants from Pakistan. So, coming from an immigrant family from South Asia, my parents have instilled values of education, compassion, hard work, and resilience. Seeing the dedication of my parents helped motivate me to want to excel in my career and to give back to the world at large.
Also, my work with special pathogens spans multiple layers. I work at the local, national, and international level. I work with the US government on outbreak prevention and response, and I also work locally here at New York City Health + Hospitals as senior director of the Systemic Special Pathogens Program. Every day can bring a new challenge. We often successfully tame an outbreak to find another one looming. There’s always something on the horizon that we need to keep our eyes on and we are constantly on our toes building and maintaining systems and policies that can be outbreak-agnostic.
I also do a lot with the media. I’ve done over 200 interviews and podcasts for major news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. I often provide subject matter commentary on infectious diseases and public health threats for articles from The New York Times to The Washington Post. I’m also a writer and publish often on the same topics, including mini-blogs for the Harvard Kennedy School, Belfer Center for Science, and International Affairs as a Fellow. As a science communicator, I try to talk in a way that people can understand.
As a public-facing expert, Madad comes face to face with the realities of misinformation.
Gasimova: You were also part of the documentary series “Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak” which was filmed before the COVID-19 pandemic. Is there anything you would add or change about the series now?
Madad: I think the series was great, and it honed in on the importance of preparing for and preventing pandemics. Outbreaks happening today are symptoms of external factors like urbanization, climate change, humans encroaching on animal habitats, and poor medical surveillance systems in many countries to list a few. I’m glad it highlighted the important work of pandemic preparedness.
One thing I would have included in the series is the importance of building trust in science. This has been a huge challenge, particularly in the US. People not trusting the science or public health officials has translated to low vaccine uptake for example.
Gasimova: Do you think misinformation stems from complexities in the field or from another issue?
Madad: I think it’s all of the above. We have bad faith actors that spread disinformation; either they’re profiting from it, or they’re misinformed and they’re misinforming others. We need to build more public health literacy in our communities and we must educate on an ongoing basis, not just during times of pandemics.
Studies have shown that misinformation spreads six times faster than true information. I think disinformation and misinformation have played a significant role in the current pandemic. There’s a lot of information out there and it’s sometimes hard to distinguish. Even experts in the field can get tricked.
The challenge for all of us is to, A) educate the community, B) spot bad faith actors and call them out, and C) connect people to trusted messengers in the community.
Gasimova: As someone in the field, what are some things people can do to help stop misinformation?
Madad: I actually wrote an article for Business Insider called “5 Ways to Determine Accurate COVID-19 Information.” In it, I suggest the five-W approach. When you go to any source of information, whether it’s for a specific health condition or public health guidance, try to look at who’s saying it, and what they are saying. Where is this information coming from? How are they saying it? When was this information last updated? Not just for COVID but for all public health threats. People can help by evaluating their sources of information using this method.
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