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  4. FDA Grand Rounds: Facial Coverings During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How well do they flatten the curve? - 11/12/2020 - 11/12/2020
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Webcast | Virtual

Event Title
FDA Grand Rounds: Facial Coverings During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How well do they flatten the curve?
November 12, 2020


Date:
November 12, 2020

About the Presentation:

This presentation provides an overview of the FDA’s research to evaluate the ability of facial coverings to reduce the spread of infection and how the FDA is developing a comprehensive risk-assessment tool to predict the probability of infection with individuals wearing a non-surgical face mask or cloth face covering; given the characteristics of non-surgical face masks, the population, and the pathogen. This presentation discusses how the filtration and leakage performance of cloth face coverings, using both experimental and computational methods, input into a risk assessment model that the FDA recently developed and is currently calibrating for COVID-19.

About the Speakers:

Prasanna Hariharan, PhD
Assistant Director (Acting)
Mechanical Engineer
Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, CDRH, FDA

Prasanna Hariharan is a Mechanical Engineer working for Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) since 2008. He has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Cincinnati and his expertise includes experimental and computational fluid dynamics. Dr. Hariharan has worked on various types of cardiovascular, respiratory, and urological medical devices. His experience also includes work on personnel protective equipment (PPE) such as facemasks and N95 respirators.

Suvajyoti Guha, PhD
Mechanical Engineer (Staff Fellow)
Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, CDRH, FDA

Suvajyoti Guha has worked for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) since 2012 as a postdoctoral fellow, and subsequently as a staff fellow. He has a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Maryland, College Park. His expertise includes aerosol sciences, filtration, airborne pandemics and multiphase flows. Dr. Guha works on devices such as face coverings, N95 facemasks, and microfluidics-based devices.

Matthew Myers, PhD
Research Physicist
Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, CDRH, FDA

Matthew Myers has been working as a research physicist in the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) since 1990. Dr. Myers has a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Arizona. His expertise includes fluid dynamics, therapeutic ultrasound, and mathematical modeling. Most recently, he has developed models to evaluate the effectiveness of protective equipment in reducing the spread of infectious diseases.

Webcast Recording

Facial Coverings During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How well do they flatten the curve?


Event Materials

 
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