Maciej
Boni
Associate Professor of Biology
Expertise:
- Health & Medicine
- Agriculture
Focus Areas:
- Drug Resistance
- Genomics
- Global Health
- Infectious Disease
- Vector-borne Diseases
About
- Maciej Boni is an expert in global health and epidemiology, with particular expertise on COVID-19, human influenza, and highly pathogenic avian influenza.
- He is available to comment broadly on the various modeling efforts underway to predict the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
- He can speak about the effectiveness of the current COVID-19 vaccines, including the extent of vaccination coverage that may be required across the population to achieve herd immunity.
- Boni can discuss the projected healthcare impacts of COVID-19 based on the virus's infection rate at any given point.
Maciej Boni is an associate professor of biology with a wide array of research interests, including the epidemiology and evolution of COVID-19, human influenza, highly pathogenic avian influenza, malaria, and dengue. He uses models to study the spread of these diseases and potential population-level treatment strategies.
Boni is an expert on the evolutionary history and origins of SARS-CoV-2, as well as the virus’s ongoing evolution. During the pandemic, he has served as an advisor to several states regarding hospital preparedness for treating COVID-19 patients; in particular, generating models to predict the number of required hospital beds, among other healthcare needs.
In The Media
Sprawling Countries Find Coronavirus Hard to Contain
from The Wall Street Journal July 8, 2020
“All other things being equal, it’s harder to manage an epidemic in a large country than a small country.” - Maciej Boni
Most New York Coronavirus Cases Came From Europe, Genomes Show
from The New York Times April 8, 2020
“Once in a while, one of these viruses wins the lottery.” - Maciej Boni
COVID-19 could make a resurgence this fall depending on US response, infectious disease specialist
from yahoo! finance March 20, 2020
“It's like looking at the first 60 minutes of a hurricane and saying it's almost over. It's not almost over at all." - Maciej Boni
Coronavirus may not be slowed down by warmer weather, scientists warn
from Los Angeles Times February 27, 2020
"While it is possible that this virus, like many other respiratory viruses, will not survive as readily in warm temperatures, it will be encountering a “completely susceptible” U.S. population, said Maciej F. Boni, an associate professor of biology at Penn State University."
Is the coronavirus outbreak as bad as SARS?
from LiveScience January 30, 2020
Penn State spring break study trips canceled
from WNEP March 4, 2020
"I think that people should understand that even if most cases are mild, the level of severe infections still means that this coronavirus could affect millions and millions of Americans severely," Boni said.
Will Warm Weather Slow Down the Coronavirus? Here's What Experts Think
from Health March 3, 2020
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Coronavirus Pandemic: Vaccines
As COVID-19 vaccines continue to roll out across the United States, questions related to vaccine safety and effectiveness, side effects, variants, vaccine hesitancy and misinformation on social media, remain top of mind for many Americans.
Penn State researchers bring their deep knowledge in their fields of expertise to bear on these questions, providing simple explanations to the complex issues we face with these vaccines. Our experts are readily available to offer their insights during the pandemic’s constantly shifting landscape.
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Coronavirus Pandemic: Infectious Disease Experts
Penn State has one of the largest clusters of infectious disease, data and policy scientists. Faculty members frequently serve as sources for major media and are readily available to speak on unfolding events of the coronavirus pandemic. Our experts are actively publishing research on COVID-19, as well as on dengue, zika, West Nile and measles, and zoonotic diseases like avian and swine flu.