Utilizing Effective Risk Communication in COVID-19

Andy Lazris, MD is a practicing Internal Medicine physician with 25 years of experience. He is an honors history graduate from Brown University, having received his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Board Certified in Internal Medicine after completing his residency at University of Virginia Hospital. He currently is the medical director of several geriatric long-term care facilities, gives regular talks in the community about health and medical issues, and directs Personal Physician Care in Columbia. His publications include Curing Medicare (Cornell University Press) and Interpreting Health Benefits and Risks (Springer), as well as multiple peer-reviewed articles in the AFP Journal.  He is co-director of the primary care council of the Right Care AllianceErik Rifkin, PhD is an environmental scientist who has had over 40 years of experience in characterizing human health and ecological risks from exposure to contaminants in soil, aquatic ecosystems, air and sediments. He obtained a PhD from U Hawaii in Marine Zoology and went on to receive a Post Doc from NIH at the Naval Medical Research Institute. He has provided assistance and guidance to federal and state regulatory agencies, corporations, NGOs and the public in assessing risks associated with exposure to metals and organic pollutants in environmental media. In addition to publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals, Dr. Rifkin is coauthor of two books published by Springer, The Illusion of Certainty: Health Benefits and Risks (2007) and Interpreting Health Benefits and Risks (2014).  His professional activities have underscored the importance of the communication of health risks and benefits to impacted groups.Andy  Lazris, MD,  Personal Physician Care, Columbia, Maryland, USA Erik Rifkin, PhD, Center for Interpreting Health Benefits and Risks, Baltimore, Maryland, USA