Luther Regent Michael Osterholm co-authors ‘The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics’

Renowned epidemiologist and public health expert Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., will be signing his newest book, “The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics,” between 1 and 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 3, at the Luther College Book Shop. The event is free and open to the public.

In “The Big One,” Osterholm and Mark Olshaker examine past pandemics, highlighting the ways societies both succeeded and failed to address them; trace the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate how the global pandemic was handled; and look to the future, projecting what the next pandemics might look like and what must be done to mitigate them.

“Drawing on years of high-level research as well as cutting-edge analysis and an innovative hypothetical scenario threaded throughout each chapter, ‘The Big One’ is a gripping, comprehensive, and urgent wake-up call. Because COVID-19 was just a taste of what’s to come. If we’re going to survive the next big pandemic, we need to be prepared,” according to a press release from Little, Brown Spark publishing company.

Osterholm, a 1975 Luther graduate and current regent, works as regents professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, and director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.

In addition to his duties as director of CIDRAP, Osterholm is a distinguished teaching professor in the University of Minnesota Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the UM Medical School.

Osterholm, a “New York Times” best-selling author, is recognized internationally as a leader in public policy and preparation for the threat of deadly influenza pandemic. The Waukon, Iowa native has published more than 315 academic papers and abstracts, including 21 book chapters, on epidemiology and infectious disease.