CDDEP endorses IANS report on COVID-19 study co-authored by Johns Hopkins faculty  

The Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP) has endorsed an IANS report on a study "COVID-19 for India Updates" and confirmed that it is co-authored by faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the work for the same was done at Princeton University.

Kayli Hiban, Communications Associate, CDDEP based in Washington office reacting to an earlier IANS news report said, "This is with reference to the new report titled "COVID-19 for India Updates" by CDDEP, co-authored by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University."

"We would like to clarify that the new report is co-authored by faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. The report uses a strong scientific modeling based on available data and clear assumptions," it said.

"An earlier version of the report did not have the correct logo of Princeton University and therefore needed to be corrected. The updated logo has now been placed on the report and the work was indeed done at Princeton. As with all research, the report does not reflect any official position of the institutions involved. This is as per the clarifications issued by both JHSPH and Princeton on the report," CDDEP said.

There was an earlier report that Johns Hopkins had distanced itself from the report on the basis of which IANS had filed a news report.

A story by IANS on the impact of coronavirus in India earlier this week was based on a study done by a faculty of Johns Hopkins University, the institution has said in a tweet.

There were some reports about Johns Hopkins disassociating itself from CDDEP''s Covid-19 study.

Johns Hopkins University tweeted on Saturday late night clarifying that the study was done by a faculty of JHU and states that the use of strong scientific modeling based on available data and clear assumptions to help inform the COVID -19 response in India.

"New report co-authored by faculty w/ appointments at @JohnsHopkinsSPH uses strong scientific modelling based on available data & clear assumptions to help inform the #Covid19 response in India. Note: Its findings do not reflect the views of @JohnsHopkins," said the tweet by The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health''s Department of International Health- focusing on global health research, education, policy and practice.

The research was done by faculty of Johns Hopkins University, it clarified, although the study does not reflect the views of the University.

The study titled Covid 19 for India updates was authored by Eili Klein, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Gary Lin, Post Doctoral Fellow of the same department, Ramanan Laxminarayan, CDDEP, Senior Associate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Senior Research Scholar, Princeton University and authors from CDDEP.

Following an earlier clarification from JHU, TV channel group, NDTV deleted the IANS report. Similarly, Alt News had also pointed out this clarification.

Furthermore, Laxminarayan has written an op-ed piece for the New York Times on what India should do during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Senior research scholar at @PrincetonPEI Ramanan Laxminarayan writes an op-ed for @nytimes about what India should do to fight #COVID19," said a tweet from Princeton University on Saturday.

To put the facts straight, CDDEP has clarified that "As with all research, the report does not reflect any official position of the institutions involved".

The IANS report as CDDEP has confirmed was co-authored by faculty from Johns Hopkins University, the pre-eminent research institution work on the report was done at Princeton University, another premier institution.