Shani Stern

Shani Stern, new Zuckerman Faculty Scholar (2020-21 cohort), and head of Precision Disease Modeling at the University of Haifa’s Sagol Department of Neurobiology, published a paper in the November 11 issue of Open Biology Journal.

In “Age separation dramatically reduces COVID-19 mortality rate in a computational model of a large population,” Dr. Stern and co-authors Liron Mizrahi and Huda Adwan Shekhidem report on the results of their study, in which they explored five different scenarios of partial lockdown in two geographical locations and with different ages. They found that separating age groups by reducing interaction protects the general population, and ultimately reduces the rate of mortality.

Dr. Stern and her researchers concluded that while complete isolation would likely be the most protective scenario for the elderly, its emotional and cognitive impact could outweigh the benefit. They proposed age-related social restrictions in order to allow social connections to continue while protecting the older age group.