MacArthur Award Winner Says He Carries The Weight Of Ending The Pandemic On His Shoulders

MacArthur Foundation Fellow Awards announcement on Tuesday marks the 40th year the group has given out its awards, fondly known as its "genius" grants.

Trevor Bedford is a computational virologist and professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

His crowd-sourced work on tracking not only where viruses are, but also how quickly they mutate, has proven critical in understanding the nature, danger and trajectory of COVID-19.

Host Robin Young talks to Bedford about his work and the pressure he feels to stop the pandemic.

Here & Now will be checking in this week with various MacArthur Fellows.