Community Conversation: COVID, What's Next? will feature a panel of relevant experts and community stakeholders to share perspectives on the "new normal" as we continue to adapt to the demands and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a moderated audience discussion with comments and questions.

Community Conversations is a new, free public series featuring moderated panel discussions on issues important to our community. Presented in partnership by the Palm Springs Post and the Palm Springs Cultural Center, this program strives to facilitate civil discourse between people of different backgrounds on challenging topics that impact our shared future.

The Community Conversation: COVID, What's Next? Panel Discussion will include both medical experts and community members who have had extensive experience dealing with the unique challenges posed by the pandemic. Our panelists include:

• Dr. Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine and Associate Division Chief (Clinical Operations/Education) of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at UCSF/San Francisco General Hospital
• Dr. Les Zendle, MD, Director at Desert Healthcare District
• Dr. Jill Gover, PhD, Director of Behavioral Health at DAP Health
• Wes Winter, Executive Director of Mizell Center
• Nichi Aviña, Middle School Science Teacher at Cielo Vista Charter School and California Teacher of the Year 2022
• Jimmy Boegle, Editor and Publisher of CV Independent
• Colleen Pace, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Visit Greater Palm Springs
• Felix Tipper, GM of Birba Palm Springs

Questions for the panel can be submitted using this form.

Dr. Gandhi will address how communities are moving out of the pandemic and what that might look like in Palm Springs before moderator Mark Talkington, editor of the Palm Springs post, opens the panel discussion.

During the pandemic, Dr. Gandhi contributed to 21 original peer-reviewed research articles on COVID-19 and wrote numerous editorials/opinion pieces to educate the public, especially on the topic of harm reduction. She has made multiple media appearances or interpreted data on COVID-19 for national media outlets including: NPR, NBC News, CBC News, BBC, CNN, The Atlantic (‘It’s Time to Contemplate the End of the Crisis’), New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, USA Today, Popular Science, Scientific American, The New Yorker, Nature News, Science Mag, Huffington Post, The Guardian, Democracy Now, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, etc. For her work, Dr. Gandhi received a Commendation by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors on June 15, 2021, the day of the California re-opening, and a Distinguished Citizen Award from the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco.

“It's Time to Contemplate the End of the Crisis” - Dr. Monica Gandhi, The Atlantic, Nov. 2021