May 22, 2026 | Joanne Liu spoke to the Montreal Gazette about the Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in the DRC and Uganda. While reassuring Quebecers that the risk of local transmission is "fairly low," Liu pressed the Canadian government to act on a concrete and immediate ask: send the personal protective equipment currently sitting in Canadian warehouses to help frontline responders in Africa, where PPE supplies are running out.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
May 17, 2026 | Joanne Liu, PERL Director, was featured in La Presse alongside Dr. François Lamontagne to explain the WHO's "international health emergency" declaration for the DRC Ebola outbreak. Liu noted that Bundibugyo is the least-studied of the major Ebola variants, with only two prior outbreaks documented before this one. There is no approved vaccine or specific treatment for the strain, and she added that the current outbreak, the largest on record, could open the door to research advances.
May 17, 2026 | Joanne Liu, PERL Director, joined Radio-Canada to discuss the WHO's declaration of a public health emergency of international concern for the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the DRC's Ituri province. Liu flagged a concerning feature: confirmed cases across three health zones are not linked to a single transmission chain, suggesting multiple independent outbreaks. She also warned that the 2025 dismantling of USAID has left Ituri's internally displaced population of 273,000 with fewer resources to absorb the crisis.
May 12, 2026 | Veasna Duong, Senior Investigator at PERL, spoke to Global News on how Canadians can reduce hantavirus exposure while opening cottages or doing spring cleaning. Duong walked through the household conditions that draw rodents into attics and sheds, and emphasized that UV light breaks the virus down. "The virus cannot survive for a long time under sunlight. UV will kill the virus."
February 6, 2026 | PERL's Deputy Director, Prativa Baral, PhD, joined CBC News to explain why Canada needs to rethink how it prepares for crises. She explains PERL's goal in breaking the "panic-neglect" cycle that leaves societies unprepared for the next emergency, whether that be pandemics, climate disasters, or new unknown threats. PERL focuses on building systems that strengthen readiness and resilience, no matter what comes next.
February 3, 2026 | Director Joanne Liu, MDCM, FRCPC, joined CTV News to discuss PERL's mission. She explains that "What we see is that these crises, which often overlap, really create a ripple and multiplier effect on the impact on health systems and society." Dr. Liu designed the lab on the premise that the next crisis won't wait for us to be ready; rather, we need to identify best practices.
May 23, 2026 | Joanne Liu, PERL Director, spoke to Global News the day the WHO raised its Ebola risk assessment to "very high" for the DRC. Liu noted that new US travel restrictions on travellers from affected regions are not aligned with WHO or International Health Regulation guidance. She argued that enhanced exit screening from the DRC and stronger support for the Congolese response are the most effective way to limit international spread.
May 17, 2026 | Joanne Liu spoke to TVA Nouvelles as the case count from the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the DRC's Ituri province climbed to 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths. While the DRC has substantial experience with Ebola, the mining cities at the epicentre sit close to South Sudan and Uganda and host highly mobile populations. Liu also flagged that cuts to foreign aid have slowed the laboratory strengthening needed to confirm cases at the speed required.
February 6, 2026 | McGill Reporter covered the February 3 launch of the Pandemic and Emergency Readiness Lab (PERL), led by Director Joanne Liu. The piece outlines PERL's mission to bring a practitioner mindset into the academic ecosystem and to help leaders act more effectively when crises strike. As Liu put it at the launch: "Science is under attack, policies are being diluted, and data are fragmented. We need to fight back against this spiral of vulnerability."
February 3, 2026 | Whether the next emergency is a pandemic, wildfire, or another global shock, Joanne Liu, MDCM, FRCPC, told the Montreal Gazette that preparedness must occur before disaster strikes. . Prativa Baral, PhD, also highlighted PERL’s work on countering misinformation through frontline providers and building a civilian surge-capacity model. As she put it, “You can have all the science in the world, but if people don’t trust the science, you’re in trouble.”
January 30, 2026 | Dr. Joanne Liu, MDCM, FRCPC joined CBC/Radio-Canada to discuss the importance of strengthening preparedness systems and policies for future health emergencies. Dr. Liu emphasized the importance of collaboration across sectors, "We want to be there for Canadians and partner with both the public and private sectors. Building strong partnerships is key to tackling any emergency or crisis we may face in the future."
May 20, 2026 | Dr. Joanne Liu wrote an opinion piece in Le Devoir on the unfolding Bundibugyo ebolavirus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which she calls a troubling echo of the 2014 West Africa epidemic she helped lead Médecins Sans Frontières through. With no vaccine for this rare strain and Ituri caught in active armed conflict, Liu urges delegates at this week's World Health Assembly to finalize Annex 12 of the 2025 Pandemic Agreement so the next outbreak is not fought, as she puts it, "with bare hands."
May 14, 2026 | PERL Director Joanne Liu, Deputy Director Prativa Baral and Senior Investigator Veasna Duong write in The Conversation that the Andes virus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius is not the next pandemic but a One Health stress test, exposing how climate change, deforestation and last-chance tourism are reshaping spillover risk — and how brittle the international response system remains, with hantavirus going unidentified for three weeks after the first death on board.