WEBVTT

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[In January 2020,

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Christian Happi and Pardis Sabeti
presented an Audacious idea]

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[Sentinel: An early warning system
to detect and track the next pandemic]

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[Here's how it would work ...]

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Christian Happi: Sentinel is a proactive
early warning system to preempt pandemics.

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It is built on three major pillars.

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Pardis Sabeti: The first pillar is Detect.

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Christian and I have been studying
infectious diseases together

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around the world for two decades.

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We have been using genome sequencing.

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Reading out the complete
genetic information of a microbe,

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it allows us to identify viruses,
even those we've never seen before,

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track them as they spread

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and watch for new mutations.

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And now with the powerful
gene-editing technology CRISPR,

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we can use this genetic information

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to rapidly design exquisitely sensitive
diagnostic tests for any microbe.

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CH: One of these tools is called SHERLOCK.

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It can be used to test known viruses
on simple paper strips.

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It is very inexpensive,

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and frontline health workers
can use SHERLOCK

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to detect the most common
or the most threatening viruses

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within an hour.

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PS: The other tool is CARMEN.

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It requires a lab, but it can test
for hundreds of viruses simultaneously.

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So hospital lab staff
can test patient samples

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for a broad range of viruses

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within a day.

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Our second pillar is Connect.

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Connect everyone
and share this information

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across the public health community.

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In most outbreaks,

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hospital staff share case information
through paper, Excel -- if at all.

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This makes tracking an outbreak
through space and time

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and coordinating a response

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extremely difficult.

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So we're developing a cloud-based system
and mobile applications

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that connect community health workers,

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clinicians, public health
teams -- everyone --

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and allows them to upload data,

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perform analysis, share insights

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and coordinate a response and action plan

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in real time.

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CH: Our third pillar is Empower.

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An outbreak surveillance
system can only succeed

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if we empower frontline health workers
that are already out there

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taking care of communities.

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It requires a lot of training.

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Pardis and I are very much aware of that.

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We've spent the past 10 years

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training hundreds of young
African scientists and clinicians.

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Over the next five years, we will train
an additional 1,000 health workers

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to use Sentinel detection tools

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and empower them
to train their colleagues.

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This way, we will improve
the original health care system

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and integrate surveillance
into medical practice.

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[Since presenting their Audacious
plan at TED, the world has changed ...]

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Briar Goldberg: So here we are.
We're recording this.

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It's April 7th, 2020,

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and obviously, we are in the throes
of this crazy global pandemic

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caused by this new coronavirus.

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So you two have been working
together forever,

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and you really came together
pretty aggressively

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with the Ebola crisis back in 2014.

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What does it feel like
from your perspective?

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CH: Pretty much six years
after the Ebola outbreak,

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we're really facing another crisis,

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and we still pretty much, like,
we never learned from the previous crisis.

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And that, really, for me,
is heartbreaking.

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PS: I think that this pandemic
has shown us how unprepared we are

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everywhere in the world.

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Christian and our partners together
had diagnostics at our hospital sites

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in Nigeria, Sierra Leone
and Senegal in early February.

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Most states in the United States
didn't have it until far later.

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It tells us that
we are all in this together,

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and we are all very much behind the curve.

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BG: So, this Sentinel system is amazing,

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but I know that the question
that's on everybody's mind is:

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How is that playing into the here and now?

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PS: You know, we describe Sentinel
as a pandemic preemption system,

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and here we are in a pandemic.

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But what's great is that, actually,
the same tools you need

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to preempt a pandemic

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are the ones that you need
to respond to one.

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And so all of the technologies
that we have laid out --

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the point-of-care testing,
the multiplex testing,

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the discovery and tracking
of the virus as it's changing,

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and the overlay of the mobile
applications to dashboard --

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are all critical.

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CH: For us, it is a war.

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We are basically committed
for 24 hours' turnaround time

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in order to give results,

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and that requires for us
to work around the clock nonstop.

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So it's a pretty challenging moment.

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We are away from family.

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At least I have the privilege
to see family today,

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and then I'm sure tomorrow
I'm heading back in the trenches.

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In my lab, we sequenced
the first COVID-19 genome

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on the African continent,

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and that really was done within 48 hours.

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This is revolutionary
coming from Africa

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and then making this information
available for the global health community

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to see what the virus
within Africa looks like.

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I believe that with
technologies and knowledge

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and then sharing information,

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we can do better and then we can overcome.

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PS: The whole idea of Sentinel

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is that we all stand guard
over each other.

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We all watch.

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Each one of us is a sentinel.

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Each one of us, being able to monitor
what is making us sick,

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can share that with
the rest of our community.

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And I think that is what
I profoundly want,

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is for us to all stand guard

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and watch over each other.

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[Dr. Pardis Sabeti
and Dr. Christian Happi]

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[Ingenious scientists.

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Courageous partners.

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Global heroes.]