MakeUsWell

All of Us

Rebuild Public Trust with Good Information on Viral Loads

by MakeUsWell


Health authorities at all levels can regain public trust with specific real-life guidance.

For example, emphasize viral loads' role in indoor COVID-19 transmission. And discard the often useless, 6 feet social distance edict

     —Lawrence Leisure, Founder and Managing Partner at Chicago Pacific Founders


MakeUsWell wants you to know that we deeply believe in and strive to be non-partisan in our work. But we also want you to get practical insights from the real world—our America, circa, December, 2020.

The Strategy of Rapid Testing

by Michael J. Critelli


As the Covid-19 crisis remains out of control, the American public is obsessed with three questions:

  1. What are my chances of getting infected or infecting others?
  2. If infected, what are my odds of dying?
  3. What can I do right now to protect myself and my loved ones?

People can wear masks and minimize their viral load exposure as a response to the 3rd question. And clinicians are improving risk prediction. But we're a long way from the kind of predictive diagnostics we need.

Biobanks and the Next Pandemic

by Phyllis Wise


Phyllis Wise is a MakeUsWell Charter Member. She got her bachelor's degree in biology from Swarthmore College. And a doctorate in zoology from the University of Michigan. From 2011-2015, she served as the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She was also on Nike's board.

Mike Critelli said “Phyllis has top-notch abilities to envision and describe a medical diagnostic process through which we would know how each of us differ in our health profiles and risks. She also has the tenacity and discipline to create that platform through the Colorado Longitudinal Study."


America needs to attack the next pandemic before it infects and kills millions of people.

Biobanks are repositories of biological specimens and health information.

Biobanks will help prevent or attenuate the impact of future pandemics.

How?

Masks are common sense and not political

by Nico Pronk


To heal our country we need to let science prevail. Masking should be a common-sense and science-based, non-partisan issue.

     —Lawrence Leisure

Despite his enormous success in business, Larry Leisure is a down-to-earth guy. He personifies the laid-back, easy-going culture of Santa Monica, where he grew up.

Larry’s energy and enthusiasm are obvious when he talks with gusto about masks. MakeUsWell concurs with Larry. It is sad that masks have become politicized. The following write-up from Nico Pronk is the first of several where we explore the efficacy of masks and make an information-based case for their use.


Nico Pronk, PhD, is a MakeUsWell Charter Member. He is also Adjunct Professor for Social And Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston and Co-Chair of the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2030 (aka “Healthy People 2030”).

Michael J. Critelli, MakeUsWell's CEO, writes "Nico is a scientist, in the best sense of the word; he is meticulous in his research and continually challenges himself to get better insights. Nico has a wonderful blend of academic accomplishment and practical application of health promotion principles, as is evident in his combined degrees in exercise physiological and social and behavioral medicine.

MakeUsWell edited Nico Pronk’s report for brevity.


Wearing a mask prevents community spread of coronavirus and supports workplace efforts to stay safe.

COVID-19 is spread person-to-person through close contact. To prevent virus spread, masking (wearing a mask) has emerged as an effective and simple response. Several recent studies consider how it works.

A Physician’s Path Fighting COVID-19

by Dr. Sandra Wainwright


Dr. Wainwright's story resonates with me. Her authentic voice is a compelling read for patients and physicians alike. I've been fighting COVID-19 in Stanford's ER and saw a lot of fear in the beginning. But I am grateful for the chance to heal patients.

     — Dr. Vance Vanier

Dr. Vanier is an emergency medicine physician and clinical assistant professor at Stanford University Medical Center.

Sandra heals people holistically--physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. She relies on intuition as well as data.

     — Michael J. Critelli.

Mike is the CEO of MakeUsWell


Dr. Sandra K. Wainwright, a MakeUsWell Charter Member, is with Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut. She has also taught at Yale University Hospital. Dr. Wainwright is a noted expert on hyperbaric oxygen therapy and its possible role in treating seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

MakeUsWell edited Dr. Wainwright's first-person story for brevity.


To Begin

When it arrived, COVID-19 hit us like a tidal wave on our Northeastern shores. It was probably already here in early February 2020. The media had been reporting cases in Wuhan. Northern Italy was suffering. The Johns Hopkins website was tracking infections across the globe.