Kevin O’Rourke

Kevin O’Rourke is a freelance Scientific Writer at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). In addition to his work at IHME, he is an active arts critic and the author of a collection of essays, As If Seen at an Angle. 

The story title comes from Shakespeare: " The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks / That flesh is heir to"—photo is of British actor Kenneth Branaugh holding a skull in the film Hamlet (1996). The photo shows the actor bathed in orange light and dressed in period garb holding a skull in a contemplative pose. GETTY IMAGES/Mondadori
Governance

The Thousand and One Natural Shocks of COVID-19

by Kevin O’Rourke, Alize Ferrari

Assessing psychological impacts of coronavirus—the second in a two-part series on the mental health burden of COVID-19

[Image 16 x 9 = The prince of Denmark's anguish is apparent in this 1948 photo of Laurence Olivier (1907–1989) and Jean Simmons (1929–2010) as Hamlet and Ophelia in Olivier's filmed version of Shakespeare's play. Photo shows a distraught looking Olivier and a concerned Simmons on a sound stage in this production still. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Governance

The Thousand Natural Shocks of COVID-19

by Kevin O’Rourke, Christopher Troeger, Alize Ferrari

Assessing the psychological impacts of coronavirus—first in a two-part series on COVID-19 and its mental health burden

U.S. school systems are stuck between two bad choices. A classroom chair rests between two dismantled water fountains at Edmondson Westside High School in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 28, 2020. The photo shows a red chair in a beige-colorored hallway where two porticos feature white porcelain basins now dry for the pandemic. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Environment

The Kids Are (Not) Alright

by Kevin O’Rourke, Katherine Leach-Kemon, Theo Vos

Analyzing the evidence against—and in support of—reopening schools during COVID-19

Artists perform with red balloons at a protest in honor of people who died from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during its outbreak in Brasilia, Brazil, on June 1, 2020. The photo shows four artists dressed in white walking in front of a massive white backdrop. Each holds a red balloon. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Governance

Six Months Under the Coronavirus

by Theo Vos, Kevin O’Rourke

Lessons Learned from the Leading COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies Around the Globe

A man wears a protective facemask decorated with a question mark in lower Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York, U.S., May 22, 2020. Picture shows a well groomed man who appears to be in his 30s wearing a mask adorned with a huge question mark. REUTERS/Mike Segar
Governance

Uncertainty and the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Abraham D. Flaxman, Kevin O’Rourke

Understand and embrace uncertainty to get the most out of forecasts