What I'm reading: How Qatar became a Covid-19 research powerhouse.

Plus, how a bunch of emails I sent last spring became a fruitful and fulfilling research collaboration.

A few weeks ago, I suggested to Kristina Fiore, the Director of Enterprise & Investigative Reporting for MedPage Today, (where I’m editor-in-chief¹) that she do a story about the epidemiologists in Qatar. The timing seemed good, especially with the World Cup being played there now.

The result is a fascinating story about how a handful of researchers in a nation of just 3 million people have generated some of the most important vaccine research during the Covid-19 pandemic.

MedPage Today @medpagetoday

"You don't just suddenly get an incredible database and know exactly what to do with it, how to manage co-factors, and bias, and test hypotheses." -- Ruanne Barnabas, MD, of @MassGeneralNews. medpagetoday.com/special-report… @KristinaMFiore

medpagetoday.comHow Qatar Provided Early Answers About COVID ImmunityThe small nation had the right mix of expertise, public health infrastructure, and data systems

My suggestion to Kristina was not a random one. In fact, by the time the story was pitched, I had developed a rather close working relationship with the public health team in Qatar. The story of how this came to be is one that I think you may find interesting. One day, I was basically emailing strangers halfway around the world—albeit academic colleagues—with a few questions.

One thing led to another, and today we have become close collaborators. I think it’s an inspiring story about cordiality in modern academia. Here’s how it all unfolded, and a sneak preview into what we’re looking to publish in the near future, including some provocative findings about who boosters really seem to help…