Concordia University Coronavirus Experts

Alex De Visscher, Professor and Chair, Chemical and Materials Engineering

• Prof. De Visscher has been publishing frequent mathematical analyses of COVID-19 gobal statistics on YouTube and can comment on new local, national and international projections.
• He can also discuss the numerical impact of how social distancing affects the spread of COVID-19.
• alex.devisscher@concordia.ca

Luis Rodrigues, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director Of Education, Concordia Institute for Aerospace Design and Innovation

• Professor Rodrigues has been publishing weekly comparisons of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Québec, Portugal and China with his analysis on his LinkedIn page.
• He can also discuss how COVID-19 is affecting the aviation industry.
• luis.rodrigues@concordia.ca

Ketra Schmitt, Associate Professor, Centre for Engineering in Society

• Prof. Schmitt’s research examines communicable disease spread contrasting physical and social distancing, as well as vaccine prevention. She is also currently working on a project collecting social media data on COVID-19 discussions.
• Ketra.schmitt@concordia.ca

Ursula Eicker, Professor, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Smart, Sustainable and Resilient Communities and Cities

• Prof. Eicker can discuss the role of smart cities in responding to this pandemic and other crises as well as how cities can become more resilient and sustainable.
• For more background on her perspective, please refer to our interview with her: How do we build urban resilience in the face of crises like COVID-19?
• ursula.eicker@concordia.ca

Bonnie Harnden, Associate Professor, Creative Arts Therapies

• Prof Harnden is an expert in the areas of trauma and resilience whose research looks at how we can retrain our overwhelmed systems to be better able to cope with big challenges.
• She is currently working on a project to build resilience and meaning through gratitude and awareness of beauty in this time of crisis.
• Listen to Prof. Harnden being interviewed in a recent podcast about the psychology of climate change and how our nervous system responds to stress.
• bonnie.harnden@concordia.ca

Alex Bitektine, Associate Professor, Management

• Prof. Bitektine can discuss what makes societies resilient and how organizations can develop and maintain trust.
• He can also speak to norms and practices for crisis management.
• alex.bitektine@concordia.ca

Meghan Joy​, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science

• Professor Joy’s research is focused on the factors and policies that affect the quality of life of seniors in cities. She can look at the additional stresses and challenges the current crisis is creating.
• Meghan.joy@concordia.ca
• English, français

Natasha Blanchet-Cohen, Associate Professor, Applied Human Sciences and Graduate Program Director for Youth Work

• Professor Blanchet-Cohen's research is centers on community youth development with a focus on rights-based approaches to programs and services, culture, and eco-citizenship, particularly as it relates to immigrant and indigenous young people. 
• She is also the co-chair of the Youth Network Chair which was created in order to activate the 2030 Quebec Youth Policy.
• natasha.blanchet-cohen@concordia.ca
• English, français

Ann-Louise Davidson, Assistant Professor, Department of Education

• Prof. Davidson has been actively involved in training close to 1,000 Concordia faculty members on how to transform their course material for online delivery as well as adapting her own to the current demands.
• Ann-louise.davidson@concordia.ca
• English, français

Saul Carliner, Professor, Department of Education

• Prof. Carliner has also been involved in training fellow faculty members in how to adapt their teaching to online delivery and transforming his own courses.  
• Saul.carliner@concordia.ca

Patrick Leroux, Professor, English and Études françaises

• Prof. Leroux has extensive expertise in the circus community and the performing arts industry generally. He can answer questions about how we will return to live arts and culture and what this field might look like post-pandemic.
• patrick.leroux@concordia.ca

Ariela Freedman, Professor, Liberal Arts College

• Prof. Freedman has been looking at how people are creating, sharing and consuming art during this pandemic.
• ariela.freedman@concordia.ca

Joshua Rager, Assistant Professor, Music

• Prof. Rager can share his expert perspective on the challenges to musicians and other performing artists during the coronavirus crisis.
• joshua.rager@concordia.ca

Jonathan Lessard, Associate Professor, Design and Computation Arts and Director, Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) Research Centre

• Prof. Lessard is a designer, historian and theoretician of games. He can discuss the value and role of gaming and digital culture during the pandemic.
• jonathan.lessard@concordia.ca

Pippin Barr, Assistant Professor, Design and Computation Arts and Associate Director, Technoculture, Art and Games (TAG) Research Centre

• Prof. Barr is a video game maker, educator and critic who can comment on the value and role of games and digital culture during the pandemic.
• pippin.barr@concordia.ca

Theo Stojanov, PhD student, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema

• Theo studies the creative industries and production. 
• He is running a survey across the creative industries community in Montreal to get a sense for how much coronavirus has affected work and to see if the current situation exacerbates certain pre-existing conditions.
• theo.stojanov@concordia.ca

Stefanie Duguay, Assistant Professor, Communication Studies

• Prof. Duguay can comment on how people are using dating apps during this pandemic.
• Read more about her research on Tinder here.
• stefanie.duguay@concordia.ca

Gonzalo Renato Quintana Zunino is a psychologist with a PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience of Sexual Behaviour from Concordia who has written a guide to how people can limit the risk of viral transmission while pursuing sexual activity.

• Gonzalo.qz@gmail.com

Graham Dodds, Associate Professor, Political Science - and an American - is watching how U.S. president Donald Trump and other elected officials are handling the crisis.

• g.dodds@concordia.ca​

Fenwick McKelvey, Associate Professor, Communication Studies

• Prof. McKelvey's research focuses on the Internet and its intersection with media and politics, including Internet policy and governance, digital activism, digital political communication and Internet history.
• fenwick.mckelvey@concordia.ca

Simon Bacon, Professor, Department of Health, Kinesiology and Applied Physiology and Canadian Institutes for Health Research SPOR Chair in Innovative, Patient-Oriented, Behavioural Clinical Trials

• Prof. Bacon can outline the importance of understanding the epidemiology of the disease and its spread as well as engaging in the right behaviours to reduce the risk of contagion. He can also discuss ways of coping with self-isolation.
• Simon.bacon@concordia.ca

Erin Barker, Associate Professor, Psychology

• Prof Barker can discuss coping strategies to help manage uncertainty and concerns about the coronavirus and isolation.
• erin.barker@concordia.ca

Amélie Daoust-Boisvert, Assistant Professor, Journalism

• Prof. Daoust-Boisvert has over a decade of experience as a daily newspaper reporter and can discusses science and health journalism as well as how the media is covering this pandemic and our health care system.
• She can also share her experience in moving her instruction online and classroom management.
• amelie.daoust-boisvert@concordia.ca

Vivek Venkatesh, Associate Professor, Department of Art Education and  UNESCO co-Chair in Prevention of Radicalisation and Violent Extremism

• Prof. Venkatesh can discuss how to combat disinformation being spread about COVID-19.
• He is also launching a free MOOC titled From Hate to Hope in May in English, French and Arabic about the dynamics of hate and how to build resilience through dialogue, especially on social media.
• vivek.venkatesh@concordia.ca

Amy Swiffen, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

• Can comment on public health legal responses to pandemics and other emergencies.
• Read her perspective in The Conversation: The limits of Canada’s federal emergency law during the coronavirus pandemic
• amy.swiffen@concordia.ca

Nicole De Silva, Assistant Professor, Political Science

• Prof. De Silva has been analyzing statements and positions taken by the 13 human rights commissions in Canada. Read more about her research: Combatting discrimination is a prominent pandemic issue, according to Concordia researcher
• nicole.desilva@concordia.ca

Najmeh Khalili-Mahani, Research Scientist, PERFORM Centre

• Studies whether stress causes screen addiction. 
• She is looking for participants to complete a short survey titled Which Media Help, Which Media Hurt: Coping with a Pandemic that she launched within hours of the WHO declaring COVID-19 a pandemic.
• najmeh.khalili-mahani@concordia.ca

Amr Addas, Director, Van Berkom Investment Management Program; Lecturer, Department of Finance, John Molson School of Business

• Amr.addas@concordia.ca

Arvind Jain, Professor, Department of Finance, John Molson School of Business

• Arvind.jain@concordia.ca

Lorne Switzer, Van Berkom Endowed Chair in Small-cap Equities; Professor, Department of Finance, John Molson School of Business

• Cell: 514-575-9552
• lorne.switzer@concordia.ca
• Also available by Skype
• English, français

Moshe Lander, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics

• Specialty: Sports Economics
• Cell: 780-237-0565
• moshe.lander@concordia.ca

Riccardo Romeo, Lecturer, Department of Economics

• riccardo.romeo@concordia.ca

Xiao Huang, Associate Professor, Supply Chain and Business Technology Management and Concordia University Research Chair in Supply Change Management

• Prof. Huang is researching how supply chains are transofrming during global disruptions. She can comment on supply chain strategy and risk management.
• xiao.huang@concordia.ca

Shaher Alzaman, Lecturer, Supply Chain and Business Technology Management

• Prof. Alzaman is an expert on supply chain response under disruptions.
• He can comment on the difficulty of moving material in a pandemic, bottlenecks in the supply chain and the need for global institutions.
• chaher.alzaman@concordia.ca
• (438) 993-8184

Xiaodan Pan, Assistant Professor, Supply Chain and Business Technology Management

• Professor Pan’s current series of studies concentrates on consumer stockpiling and retail operations during times of environmental stress, such as hurricane events and economic recessions.
• xiaodan.pan@concordia.ca

Jordan LeBel, Professor, Marketing

• Prof. LeBel can answer questions about how food management and supply, as well oversight and governance in the food industry.
• He can also discuss obesity as it relates to business and has extensively researched how food is marketed. Read more about his latest research on the marketing behind “ethnic food”.
• jordan.lebel@concordia.ca

Andre Gagné, Associate Professor, Theological Studies

• Cell: 514-999-4188
• andre.gagne@concordia.ca
• English, français

Faisal Shennib, Concordia’s Environmental Coordinator

• Can discuss ways of minimizing our ecological imprint while staying safe.
• faisal.shennib@concordia.ca
• English, français

Arrien Weeks, Concordia University's Center for Creative Reuse

• Can share ideas on how to cook from staples and keep children entertained while practicing social distancing.
• arrien.weeks@concordia.ca
• English, français

Cameron Stiff, Masters student in Environmental Science, Geography, Planning and Environment Department.

• Stiff is doing his thesis on the political economy of organic waste management in Quebec, has worked in waste management for seven years, and has produced a document evaluating Montreal’s zero waste plan. 
• He can discuss ways of minimizing waste while moving to more take-out food options.
• Cell: 514-962-5773
• Cameron.stiff@gmail.com