Melvyn Levitsky, a former U.S. ambassador to Brazil, is a professor of international policy and practice.

“With President Rousseff’s removal from office now before the Brazilian Senate, the country sinks further into the political quicksand,” he said. “Rousseff is temporarily removed from office for up to six months, but it is uncertain how long the Senate will debate the issue and come to some conclusion. Vice President Temer takes over the presidency, but his status (under investigation for illegal election activities) is also in doubt. Former speaker of the lower house, Eduardo Cunha, is now out of the line of succession.

“And, the Olympics are on the horizon. In such circumstances it seems doubtful that new initiatives to deal with Brazil’s fading economy and bloated government apparatus can be undertaken. If the Olympics are successfully managed it could give Brazil a bit of a boost, but stagnation, discontent and muddling through seem more likely.”

Contact: 734-615-4262, levitsky@umich.edu

Chuanwu (Wu) Xi, associate professor of environmental health sciences and director of the Global Environmental Health program at the School of Public Health. His research focuses on biofilms/microbiome, water quality and treatment, and human health.

Contact: 734-615-7594, cxi@umich.edu

Joseph Eisenberg, professor of epidemiology, studies infectious disease epidemiology with a focus on waterborne and vectorborne diseases. His broad research interests, global and domestic, integrate theoretical work in developing disease transmission models and empirical work in designing and conducting epidemiologic studies. He is especially interested in the environmental determinants of infectious diseases and can discuss the Zika virus, as well.

Contact: 734-764-5435, jnse@umich.edu

Dr. Arnold Monto, professor of epidemiology, is an internationally known expert who can discuss transmission, prevention, mitigation and social response to outbreaks and pandemic planning. This includes transmission modes.

Contact: 734-764-5453, asmonto@umich.edu

Mark Wilson, professor of epidemiology, has broad research interests in infectious diseases, including the analysis of transmission dynamics and the environmental and social determinants of risk. His studies have addressed various arthropod vector-transmitted and emerging diseases, including Lyme disease, malaria, leishmaniasis and dengue fever. He can discuss disease transmission, global patterns of disease and relationship to human activity.

Contact: 734-936-0152, wilsonml@umich.edu

Aubree Gordon, assistant professor of epidemiology, works on infectious disease epidemiology and global health, particularly the epidemiologic features and transmission of influenza and Dengue Fever in Nicaragua. Her research also includes study of Zika and she is conducting testing with her pediatric cohort and making plans to launch a pregnancy study, as well.

Contact: 734-763-3580, gordonal@umich.edu

Alexandra Minna Stern is a professor of American culture, obstetrics and gynecology, and women’s studies, and director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the Brazil Initiative.

Contact: 734-232-4976, amstern@umich.edu

Stacy-Lynn Sant is an assistant professor of sport management. Her research focuses on the legacy of mega sports events, hosts’ bid strategies and the leveraging of these events for long-term benefits to the tourism industry in the host city and region.

Contact: 734-647-2704, slsant@umich.edu

Dan Ferris, professor of movement science and biomedical engineering, is an expert on the biomechanics and performance of human runners. Specifically, he has lectured and published on the effects of different terrain on human running and the potential advantages of Oscar Pistorius’ prosthesis for competition in the 2008 Olympics.

Contact: 734 834-0379, ferrisdp@umich.edu

Mark Peterson is an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation. His ongoing research is designed to better understand muscle physiology and metabolic health among children and adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities, and to examine the effectiveness of behavioral interventions such as exercise for these populations.

Contact: 734-763-0692, mdpeterz@med.umich.edu

Scott W. Campbell, associate professor of communication studies, can discuss the uses and impact of mobile and social media at the Olympics.

Contact: 734-764-1300, swcamp@umich.edu

Puneet Manchanda is a professor of marketing. His areas of expertise include business in emerging markets, strategy and marketing issues.

Contact: 734-936-2445, pmanchan@umich.edu

Ana Paula Pimentel Walker is a Brazilian assistant professor of urban and regional planning. She is an expert in urban planning, land use and environmental planning in developing countries, and recently wrote a paper on Brazil, titled “Twenty-First Century Architectures of the Mega-Event.” She can discuss the Olympics as a means of shifting abstract capital into infrastructure and public services.

Contact: 734-764-1300, appiment@umich.edu

Stefan Szymanski, professor of sport management and co-director of the Michigan Center for Sport Management. He has studied the business and economics of sports for more than 20 years and can discuss the economic impact and the legacy of the games. He also explains in this video why governments compete for sporting events like the Olympics and World Cups: myumi.ch/Jdy1K.

Contact: 734-647-0950, atstefansz@umich.edu

Andrei Markovits, professor of comparative politics and German studies, co-wrote the books “Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism,” “Gaming the World: How Sports Are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture” and “SPORTISTA: Female Fandom in the United States.” He has written many scholarly articles on various aspects of sports and their cultures.

Contact: 734-213-2226, andymark@umich.edu

David Mayer is an associate professor in management and organizations. His research interests concern social and ethical issues in organizations. Specifically, he conducts research in three major areas: behavioral ethics, organizational justice and workplace diversity.

Contact: 734-936-1262, dmmayer@umich.edu

Dee Hae Kwak, assistant professor of sport management, is an expert on sport consumer behavior. His current work focuses on how emotion and experiential judgments influence decisions to consume sport-related products/services.

“A public backlash on doping doesn’t end at athletes. It carries over to sponsors who paid lots of money to be associated with those athletes and events,” Kwak said.

Contact: 734-615-2884, 734-647-2808 (office), kwakd@umich.edu

Christopher Mendias, is an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan Medical School. Dr. Mendias is a musculoskeletal physiologist and athletic trainer who studies the cellular and molecular mechanisms of skeletal muscle and tendon growth and recovery from injuries. Studies in the Mendias Lab in skeletal muscle are focused on the cytokines TGF-b and myostatin in regulating muscle protein degradation and fibrosis, and studies in tendon mechanobiology are focused on the bHLH transcription factor scleraxis and its role in tendon stem cell biology, tissue regeneration and adaptation to loading.

Contact: 734-764-3250, cmendias@umich.edu

Mark Clague, associate professor of musicology at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, is an expert on all forms of music-making in the U.S., the national anthem, American popular music, and music and politics in popular culture. As one of the nation’s foremost experts on America’s national anthem, he can address the controversy surrounding the version of The Star-Spangled Banner being played at the Rio Games, as well as the history of the song.

Contact: 734-649-4972, claguem@umich.edu