Reflections from 40 Years Fighting International Epidemics

Reflections on patients, policies, pan-epidemics, prose and medical humanities from a 40-year career fighting epidemics around the world by an infectious disease public health physician. Examples include HIV/AIDS, Anthrax, SARS, MERS, H5N1 and H1N1 influenza, Nipah, Ebola (with MSF 2014), Zika, Plague (with WHO 2017) and COVID-19. Working side-by-side with international colleagues to provide hands-on patient care and to share stories is an expression of medical humanities. Dr. Lucey is the originator of the Smithsonian Museum Exhibit on Epidemics 2018-2022, an advocate of One Health, and author of 170 blogs on COVID and other new epidemics since January 2020 on the Science Speaks website of the Infectious Disease Society of America. One best career lesson is to “Anticipate, Recognize, Act” because “What’s next is already here, we just haven’t recognized it”.