From lockdowns to vaccines, the disruption to our family lives to tackling economic outcomes – none of us could have forseen the impact of COVID-19 at the beginning of the year.

But there's a need to look beyond this year and consider the next health emergency…because there will be another one.

In a world that has become more virtual, how can real-time data protect the world from the next pandemic? What role did data and modelling play in defeating the second wave of COVID-19 in Victoria? And how can the public and private sectors work together to prevent future global crises?

This new University of Melbourne series, Conversations on COVID-19: A Global View, goes beyond Australia's borders to discuss with global leaders how the pandemic is reshaping our world.

In this episode, Dame Sally Davies, Master of Trinity College Cambridge and former Chief Medical Officer for England, and Dr Jason Thompson, from the University of Melbourne, whose modelling played a significant role in guiding the state of Victoria through the 110-day lockdown to effective elimination, join Professor Shitij Kapur, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Health).

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