22/05/2026
Prof. Dr. Arnaud Fontanet evaluated the control strategies implemented worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic and the lessons learned from this process at Sabancı University. The conference, organized in collaboration with Sabancı University, the French Embassy in Türkiye, AXA Insurance, Collège de France, and Institut Français de Turquie, took place on May 21st in the Sabancı University Cinema Hall.
The conference, which began with an introductory speech by Assoc. Prof. Umut Şahin, featured Prof. Dr. Arnaud Fontanet sharing his assessments of the pandemic period with his presentation titled "Lessons Learned from Comparing COVID-19 Control Strategies of Countries Worldwide." The conference, organized by Assoc. Prof. Umut Şahin and Dr. Duygu Kuzuoğlu Öztürk, faculty members of the Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, attracted significant interest from academics and students.
Pandemic Strategies and Differences Between Countries
In his speech evaluating the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Dr. Arnaud Fontanet stated that there has been a significant acceleration in the emergence of new viruses in recent years. Fontanet said, "The increasing connections between the animal world and humans offer more opportunities for these viruses to cross species barriers and spread to humans."
Fontanet also touched upon the strategies adopted by different countries during the pandemic, citing Sweden's "flattening the curve" approach and New Zealand's "Zero COVID" approach as examples. Highlighting Denmark's early intervention model, Fontanet said, "As soon as you understand that an outbreak is about to begin, you need to intervene and stop it."
The speech also addressed high mortality rates, long COVID, the effects of the pandemic on mental health, and the development process of mRNA vaccines. Prof. Dr. Arnaud Fontanet emphasized that vaccines saved millions of lives in the first year, highlighting the critical role of scientific knowledge sharing in pandemic management.
“Information Sharing Played a Critical Role in Combating the Pandemic”
Emphasizing the importance of international cooperation among scientists, Arnaud Fontanet stated that data sharing and digital scientific networks made a significant contribution during the pandemic. Noting that the rapid sharing of the virus genome enabled the rapid development of PCR tests and mRNA vaccines, Fontanet said that artificial intelligence technologies will play a significant role in drug and vaccine design in the future.
About Prof. Dr. Arnaud Fontanet
Prof. Dr. Arnaud Fontanet received his medical doctorate from Paris V University and completed his MPH and DrPH training at Harvard School of Public Health. In 2002, he founded the Emerging Diseases Epidemiology unit at the Institut Pasteur, conducting research on viral hepatitis and emerging viruses. Appointed director of the Institut Pasteur Global Health Center in 2014, Fontanet also serves as a Professor of Public Health at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.
Prof. Dr. Arnaud Fontanet, who served as a Visiting Professor of Public Health at the Collège de France from 2018 to 2019, was appointed to the Scientific Council in March 2020, which advised the French government and the President of the European Union Commission during the COVID-19 crisis.
