Category Archives: Molecular Medicine

Lockdown has had myriad consequences, including an increase in crimes against women in South Africa and the world. As 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children is being commemorated, researchers from the University of Cape Town(UCT) are working collaboratively with national entities invested in the alleviation of this abuse.

The study, Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on mental health and gender-based violence in South African women, is a collaboration between the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) at the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa(CAPRISA), the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation(DTHF), the Seattle Childrens Research Institute in the United States and the Burnet Institute in Australia.

At a national address in August, President Cyril Ramaphosa said: As we mark Womens Day this year, South Africa is in the grip of two pandemics the coronavirus pandemic and the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide.

According to the South African Police Service, 87000 cases of gender-based violence (GBV) were reported during the first week of lockdown. The spike in GBV over recent months is attributable to, among other complex contributing factors, the many survivors of violence who were left confined to sharing spaces with their abusers, which often compromise and constrain their access to support services.

MISC

This research is associated with the ongoing clinical study on mucosal injury from sexual contact (MISC) being conducted through a partnership between these research institutes, with Associate Professor Heather Jaspan as co-principal investigator (coPI) and Seattle Childrens Research Institute PI; Associate Professor Jo-Ann Passmore as co-PI and CAPRISA PI; and DrLindi Masson as co-PI and UCT PI. All have appointments through the FHS and are members of the IDM.

The MISC study aims to evaluate the behavioural and biological differences between adolescent and adult South African women in order to understand the extremely high HIV incidence in young women in this country. Among other factors, the study is investigating the impact of the use of vaginal insertion practices and/or sexual trauma on genital inflammation in young women.

The face-to-face clinical activities of this study were halted in March2020, like almost all observational research projects at UCT, following guidance from the UCT Human Research Ethics Committee as a result of the national lockdown. The researchers instead implemented a telephonic survey study to assess the physical and emotional well-being of adolescent and young women living in Philippi, Cape Town, and Vulindlela in rural KwaZulu-Natal.

Economic vulnerability contributes to abuse

Between 2018 and 2019 black African women were recognised as the most economically vulnerable population group in South Africa, with an unemployment rate of over 30%. Many of these women also experienced violence, with almost 50% of assaults committed by someone such as a friend or acquaintance (22%), a spouse or intimate partner (15%), or a relative or other household member (13%). This is according to a Statistics South Africa report.

Concerned that the participants of the MISC study were particularly vulnerable, the researchers sought to offer them support.

A primary goal of the survey was to determine whether any of the study participants were confined in an unsafe environment during lockdown, with the aim of referring them to nearby shelters or social services. At the same time, the United Nations issued a call for data on the impact of COVID-19 on violence against women, and the team recognised the importance of collecting this data locally to contribute to this much larger body of work.

A total of 54 telephonic interviews were conducted during the various stages of lockdown. Of the 28 participants in Philippi, three experienced GBV and/or explicit threats of violence.

One participant was murdered, another verbally threatened by an intoxicated man and the third reported attempted rape. These events highlight the extreme vulnerability of these women and the need for continued support, said Dr Masson.

Ten women in Philippi (36%) and two women in rural KwaZulu-Natal (8%) were scored as having mild depression on the PHQ-9 scale, an evaluation tool with nine questions commonly usedto assess depression.

The study

Masson conceptualised this sub-study, the COVID-19 GBV and depression survey, and implemented it together with project coordinator Celia Mehou-Loko from the FHS, and Dr Hilton Humphries at CAPRISA. They found that concerns surrounding employment, education and the future were the main stressors for most participants.

According to Mehou-Loko, the study consistently considered three essential components: confidentiality, safety and beneficence.

Operating outside the confines of the clinic caused a threat to all three of these key tenets, she said.

Mehou-Loko explained that an additional concern was that participants would be overheard while speaking on the phone with the data collection team, thus potentially compromising their social standing further and putting them in even more danger a consideration which led to the questionnaire being designed to ensure participants could provide simple responses while still allowing for sufficient data collection.

Participants could also send us a Please call me when they felt comfortable, safe and ready to speak freelyIt was also very important that the referral channels, in case of emergency, were tested that the social workers and the NGOs were available to see our participants despite the lockdown, she said.

Evidence to advocate for change

The study highlights some of the unintentional and indirect impacts of lockdown strategies used to mitigate transmission risk in epidemics.

These unintended consequences must be quantified so that in the future more accurate risk and benefit equations can be appreciated ahead of any decisions of this magnitude. In addition, this work may point out opportunities to reduce the risks of violence or better protect women and others, including children, said Professor Linda-Gail Bekker, the chief operating officer at the DTHF and a member of the IDM.

In the future it would be critical to comprehensively evaluate the availability of the support services these young women can access.

The research team intends to use these findings to inform the development of more accurate risk and benefit equations that can be applied before implementing a lockdown in both rural(CAPRISA site) and urban settings(UCT site). This evidence can be used to advocate for continued availability of support services that are critical to ensure the well-being of young women during emergency situations like COVID-19, but also more generally.

Emergency services currently prioritise crisis situations; however, the team has identified a high incidence of lower-grade depression that is important to defuse before it escalates to a more critical point. With simple counselling techniques, follow-up calls and referrals, most participants reporting depression improved their scores to absent or minimal depression, Mehou-Loko said.

Masson echoed this sentiment: In the future it would be critical to comprehensively evaluate the availability of the support services these young women can access and whether these services are adequate.

Crucial in curbing this pandemic is creating awareness about the support services, including the NGOs and hotlines that are available to assist young women. The development of informed campaigns to encourage women to reach out and seek help when they experience emotional difficulties, violence or threats of violence remains key.

Should you need any form of assistance in this regard please call any of these numbers:

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Lockdown limits safe spaces for abused women - University of Cape Town News

Open Access Government spoke to Prof Christophe Drouet (CNRS Senior Scientist) an international specialist in bio-inspired apatites to learn more about this most absorbing field of research, dealing with regenerative and nanomedicine

Nature has always been a great source of inspiration for humans This is especially true considering biomineralisations as in bones and teeth. By appropriately tuning their composition and conditions of formation in vivo, Nature has designed its own biomaterials, capable of cumulating at once with mechanical strength and bioactivity. Such biominerals are essentially composed of calcium phosphates with an apatite structure, and we have learned over time to master the preparation and processing of synthetic analogues, so-called biomimetic apatites.

This is one focus of our research group in Toulouse. By mimicking crystals naturally present in our bones, these intrinsically biocompatible compounds are particularly well suited to the design of biomaterials for use in vivo: whether in view of bone regeneration or beyond!

In all cases, it is also possible to convey additional functionalities such as anticancer or antimicrobial by exploiting the exceptional surface reactivity of these compounds.

Biomimetic apatites are prepared by soft chemistry, thus avoiding the use of high temperatures to preserve their reactivity and intrinsic features. Indeed, as in natural bone mineral, biomimetic apatite crystals are covered by a hydrated non-apatitic ionic layer which confers to these compounds an exceptionally high surface reactivity, which can be exploited because of biomedical applications. (1) It is then possible provided that the adequate experimental conditions are used to graft on their surface a large variety of bioactive molecules/drugs to set up medical devices.

We have, for instance, shown the possibility to associate antibacterial enzymes, antibiotics, anticancer drugs, hemostatic agents, cell-targeting moieties, anti-osteoporotic drugs, vitamins, and so on to design la carte bioactive compounds. Also, the possibility to modulate their ionic composition allows doping them with bioactive ions which may also play a role in the control of microbial colonisation, inflammation, etc.

Biomimetic apatites are increasingly considered by researchers and clinicians for the design of innovative implantable biomaterials in orthopaedics and dentistry. Using such bio-inspired apatites may indeed ensure not only a high biocompatibility, but also a tailorable resorption rate, which may be modulated via their chemical composition and processing approach. Plus, as mentioned above, several strategies can be developed to confer additional therapeutic functionalities.

Starting in 2004, our group showed for the first time that it was possible to consolidate biomimetic apatite powders into actual 3D scaffolds via cold sintering by a technique called Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). (2) This opened the way to low-temperature consolidation approaches to preserve the characteristics and performances of such bio-inspired apatites. This low-temperature consolidation is possible by the presence of water molecules on the crystal surface, allowing significant ion mobility.

Lately, this possibility was also extended to amorphous calcium phosphates, often considered as precursors of bone formation in vivo, while preserving again the appealing physicochemical properties of these metastable compounds. (3) We also showed, more recently, that it was possible to coat existing implants (ceramics, metals) such as hip, knee or dental implants with biomimetic apatites so as to significantly increase their bioactivity and osteointegration capacity.

For instance, we proved the relevance of the cold spray technique. Using such reactive apatites is not only a way to boost the biointegration of the implant and allow faster bone repair, but it also allows associating bioactive ions and molecular species, such as antimicrobials to fight or avoid infections. This approach is notably followed in the starting AIMed EU H2020 programme. (4)

Yes indeed. Biomimetic apatites have been developed initially with the idea to propose more efficient bioactive bone substitute materials capable of being functionalised to provide additional effects in vivo, which we showed has great promise. But taking into account their intrinsic biocompatibility, it is also possible to extend the initial usages to a wealth of other medical applications!

In oncology, haematology, dermatology in all such domains where nanomedicine devices are needed, providing small systems to act at the level of cells. (5) It should probably be reminded that nanosized crystals are already present in our bodies since bone is a natural nanocomposite! Here, by designing bio-inspired apatites, we play with nanocrystals that our body can handle and whose biodegradation leads to natural metabolites.

We showed that it was possible to associate, to apatite nanoparticles, a cell targeting agent to address more specifically some diseased cells; that the bio-inspired apatite particle formulation could allow modifying the cellular uptake of some biomolecules/drugs; and that it was possible to design apatite systems for a smart delivery dependent on the body response.

This all opens new avenues of research, typically where an action is needed at a cellular or tissular level. Of course, this requires adapting the formulation and composition to the clinical application, which is why a close contact between materials scientists, galenic pharmacists, clinicians and industrials are needed.

But the role of politicians and decision-makers is also primordial to sustain these developments.

Well, the community now has a strong background on biomimetic/bio-inspired apatites, their elaboration, characterisation, behaviour, processing and properties to certify that these compounds are worth investing further research efforts! However, since the opportunities of use are wide and not yet fully explored by far, additional work is needed in several strategic domains to further ascertain and determine the power of bio-inspired apatites, including in comparison to existing devices often less biocompatible.

Decision-makers could help to promote an active development of biomimetic apatite-based systems by 1) launching dedicated calls for projects at national and European/international scales and providing the necessary funds, 2) setting up a committee of experts about bio-inspired apatites for coordinating research actions, 3) facilitating the development of standards dedicated to such metastable compounds.

In my opinion, this all could allow progressing significantly toward the validation and use of highly-bioactive apatite-based systems in tomorrows medicine for the good of our patientsand the whole healthcare system since these systems are rather low-cost to produce.

(1) Drouet, C. et al. 2018. Nanocrystalline apatites: The fundamental role of water. Am. Miner. 103;550-564.

(2) Grossin, D. et al. 2010. Biomimetic apatite sintered at very low temperature by spark plasma sintering: Physico-chemistry and microstructure aspects. Acta Biomat. 6;577-585.

(3) Luginina et al., First successful stabilization of consolidated amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) by cold sintering: toward highly-resorbable reactive bioceramics J. Mat. Chem. B, 8 (2020) 629-635.

(4) Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Marie Skodowska-Curie grant agreement No 861138, http://www.aimed-itn.eu

(5) Drouet, C. et al. 2020. Colloidal apatite particles: a multifunctional platform in (nano)medicine. Juniper Online J. Mater. Sci. 6 (1);art.555676;1-8.

Member (and PhD supervisor) of the H2020 project AIMed.

*Please note: This is a commercial profile

Editor's Recommended Articles

Originally posted here:
The advent of biomimetic apatites in today's and tomorrow's medicine - Open Access Government

November 20, 2020 I St. Jude discovers hyperinflammatory pathway, hepatitis C drugs are potential treatment, non-human primate model identifies features of virus, IL-10 production is a marker for severity, recommendations on re-use of data, molecular structure of key E-protein, and early antibody evolution predicts outcomes. Plus: Disrupting SKI complex prevents viral replication, why COVID-19 spares children, and how smoking causes more severe infection.

Research News

Two collaborative studies, published in the journal Emerging Microbes & Infections, show that domestic cats can be asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2, but pigs are not likely to be significant carriers of the virus. Researchers from Kansas State University conducted an in-depth study at the K-State Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) and determined that domestic cats may not have obvious clinical signs of the virus, but they still shed the virus through their nasal, oral and rectal cavities and can spread it to other cats within two days. Authors of the study highlight its importance in understanding risks of animal to human transmission. DOI:10.1080/22221751.2020.1833687

St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital scientists have discovered the process behind the life-threatening hyperinflammatory immune response associated with COVID-19 and potential therapeutics to disrupt this process. In mice models, they determined a combination of two cytokines that triggered this inflammatory cell death pathway: TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma. Neutralizing antibodies against these cytokines are currently used to treat inflammatory diseases, and researchers found that treatment with these antibodies protected mice from death associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection and other inflammatory conditions caused by cytokine storm. These findings are published in Cell. DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2020.11.025

In a new study, published in JACC: Basic to Translational Research, researchers used publicly available gene expression data to determine how COVID-19 impacts cardiovascular tissue and endothelial cells. They determined that cardiorenal tissue and endothelial cells express higher or comparable levels of SARS-CoV-2 associated genes to those found in the lungs or airway epithelium, supporting the hypothesis that COVID-19 may infect the vasculature. DOI:10.1016/j.jacbts.2020.09.010

Research led at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has identified three drugs that can potentially be repurposed for treatment of COVID-19. Based on virtual and in vitro experiments conducted at the UTHSC Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL), the researchers found zuclopenthixol (an antipsychotic drug), nebivolol (an antihypertensive drug), and amodiaquine (an older antimalarial) to be good candidates for future clinical trials. They found these three drugs to act similarly to hydroxychloroquine, in some cases safer, and efficacy may be improved with combination therapy using remdesivir. This research is published in ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science. DOI:10.1021/acsptsci.0c00131

In vitro combination therapy of remdesivir and human recombinant soluble ACE2 (hrsACE2) shows promising results for the treatment of COVID-19 in a new study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. The research group tested this drug combination in cell cultures and organoids and found a reduced viral load of SARS-CoV-2 and inhibited viral replication. They achieved these results with a relatively lose dose of each drug, which reduced toxicity and risk for potential side effects. The authors of this study, which is published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, hope these findings will lead to successful clinical trials for combination therapy. DOI:10.15252/emmm.202013426

New research led at UCLA reveals how smoking causes more severe COVID-19 infection in the airways. The research team used a model of airway tissue created from human stem cells that were donated from the lungs of five young, healthy nonsmokers and exposed the airway cultures to cigarette smoke. The group then infected the cigarette smoke exposed cultures with SARS-CoV-2, along with cultures that were not exposed to smoke. The researchers found that the cultures exposed to smoke had two to three times more infected cells and determined that the blocking of interferons due to smoking was the cause for this finding. This study is published in Cell Stem Cell. DOI:10.1016/j.stem.2020.11.010

SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies likely provide protection against reinfection of the virus, according to new research from the University of Freiburg. The scientists examined characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cells and determined that they differentiate into memory T-cells that are comparable to the flu. The authors of the study, published in Nature Medicine, are confident that this immunological memory means that vaccines currently being tested will provide significant protection against COVID-19. DOI:10.1038/s41591-020-01143-2

Experiments led by researchers at the Department of Energys Oak Ridge National Laboratory have identified hepatitis C drugs with the potential to treat COVID-19. The team performed an X-ray study that revealed promising results for the hepatitis C drugs boceprevir and narlaprevir, which exhibited the ability to bind and inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 main protease that enables the virus to reproduce. The study also discovered the proteases ability to change or adapt its shape according to the size and structure of the inhibitor molecule it binds to. This research is published in Structure, and the team suggests consideration of hepatitis C inhibitors as potential repurposing candidates for the treatment of COVID-19. DOI:10.1016/j.str.2020.10.007

A nonhuman primate model developed at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) has identified features of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that may help in vaccine development and treatment for COVID-19. The research team showed in this primate study that the virus causes vascular inflammation and that this persisted for 3 days following infection. They also confirmed immunosuppression as the viral load increased during the first 2 days of infection and observed rapid replication of the virus in the upper and lower respiratory tract for the first 2 days, followed by a rapid decrease with no viral activity detected 7 days post-infection. These findings are published in the Journal of Infectious Disease. DOI:10.1093/infdis/jiaa486

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have uncovered why COVID-19 seems to spare children. The research team identified an enzyme, called TMPRSS2, that allows the virus to gain entry into airway epithelial cells and is found at lower levels in children. In the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers obtained and analyzed human lung specimens collected from donors of different ages and found that the expression of TMPRSS2 went up significantly with age. The team also analyzed autopsy samples for three patients who died from COVID-19 and found the virus in three types of cells that express the enzyme. Drugs that block TMPRSS2, which have been approved for the treatment of prostate cancer, are currently being tested clinically as a potential treatment for COVID-19. DOI:10.1172/JCI140766

Interleukin 10 (IL-10) production may act as a marker for severity of COVID-19, finds new research published in Clinical and Translational Immunology. A team of immunology experts examined immunological features associated with the development of severe COVID-19 disease by comparing the immune system response to COVID-19 in patients showing mild to moderate or severe symptoms, using a subset of healthy individuals as a control group. The researchers, surprisingly, found few differences in T cell response in the blood of severe COVID-19 patients when compared to the healthy individuals. They did, however, identify a significant increase in T cells producing IL-10 in patients with severe disease compared to the healthy group. The authors note that larger-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings. DOI:10.1002/cti2.1204

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified new drug compounds to potentially treat novel coronaviruses, such as COVID-19. The study, published in PNAS, found that disrupting the SKI complex prevents the virus from replicating, which essentially destroys it. The team also identified compounds that target the SKI complex which not only inhibit coronaviruses, but also influenza and Ebola. The authors of the study hope these findings lead to development of new broad-spectrum antiviral drugs. DOI:10.1073/pnas.2012939117

Early antibody evolution may predict COVID-19 patient outcomes, according to new research published in Cell. The study used a systems serology approach to profile the antibody responses of 193 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and compared responses from patients with moderate and severe disease to those who died. Researchers found that all patients developed antibodies against the virus, but patients who passed away never fully developed an antibody response. In those died, there was a significant defect in the development of IgG antibodies and stunted development of the antibodies ability to strongly bind to Fc-receptors, which consequently never triggered a strong immune response against the virus. The team also found that of the survivors, the immune system recognized and targeted the S2 domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, suggesting a previous exposure to other coronaviruses and pre-existing immunity. DOI:10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.052

New research from Georgetown University Medical Center demonstrates the use of RNA molecules to successfully shut down the production of destructive proteins produced by COVID-19. The team showed that microRNAs (miRNAs) and silencing RNAs (siRNAs) can target messenger RNA inside a virus. SARS-CoV-2 uses messenger RNA to generate proteins essential for replication and infection. The authors of the study note that this ability to target the virus within cells, particularly through siRNA, could help shut the virus down. The researchers are working to aerosolize the RNA molecules to incorporate in an inhalable drug that would interfere with the production of the protein spikes associated with infectivity of the virus. This work is published in Gene Therapy. DOI:10.1038/s41434-020-00210-0

University of Bristol scientists have developed and demonstrated a new virtual (VR) reality tool, called Narupa, that allows researchers to virtually test COVID-19 drug candidates. In the study, published in the Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, the team created a 3D model structure of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) and used interactive molecular dynamics in VR to visualize molecules binding to the enzyme in atomic detail. Their results showed that users were able to show how a drug molecule fits within the enzyme. The tool is an open source software framework that uses readily available VR equipment and enables virtual collaboration in the global fight against COVID-19. DOI:10.1021/acs.jcim.0c01030

The common D614G mutation may make SARS-CoV-2 more susceptible to a vaccine, finds a new study published in Science. Researchers of this study confirmed that this most common strain, which emerged in Europe, replicates and transmits quickly and efficiently but the mutation to the spike protein also makes it more sensitive to neutralizing antibody drugs. Hamster models investigating the original strain from China and the mutated strain showed that the mutated strain replicated about ten times faster and was more infectious, but the researchers did not find the mutated strain to cause more severe disease. The team explained that the D614G mutation also alters the spike protein in a way that creates a more vulnerable pathway to the virus core. DOI:10.1126/science.abe8499

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists have discovered the molecular structure of a key protein found in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This protein, named the envelope E protein, acts as an ion channel and plays an important role in viral replication and activation of the host cells inflammatory response. The MIT researchers also studied the binding sites of two drugs, amantadine and hexamethylene amiloride, that block the entrance of the E channel, but these drugs only bind weakly to the E protein. The authors of this study, published in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, hope these findings help medicinal chemists to design new drugs that target this channel with high affinity. DOI:10.1038/s41594-020-00536-8

Researchers in China have developed a rhesus macaque model that mimics SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans via the nasal route. The study, published in PLOS Pathogens, revealed viral shedding in the nose and stool for up to 27 days and progression from mild disease to marked interstitial pneumonia, both of which resemble the manifestations of COVID-19 in humans. The research team also found that T-cells played an important role in viral disease progression and cytokine changes in the respiratory tract triggered inflammation, noting that treatments and vaccines should focus on these immune responses. DOI:10.1371/journal.ppat.1008949

A new study, published in PNAS, reveals models that detail binding and, for the first time, unbinding mechanisms that play key roles in the immune system response. The computational analysis shows the unbinding of peptides from the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) with atomic resolution. The research team found that in these secondary interactions, position 4 plays an important role in the stability of the complex and their model was able to predict the effect of mutations. The researchers believe that this work will have an impact on the fight against COVID-19, as the SARS peptide they investigated is very similar to the peptide in SARS-CoV-2, with the same binding pockets in positions 2, 4 and 9. DOI:10.1073/pnas.2007246117

Industry News

XPRIZE and Cognizant have announced a Pandemic Response Challenge that aims to safely reopen societies and restart economies through the power of data and artificial intelligence. Based on technology and AI models developed by Cognizant, and using data compiled by the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, competing teams will build data-driven AI models that predict local COVID-19 transmission rates and prescribe intervention and measures to minimize infection rates, as well as negative economic impacts. This four-month competition will award a total prize of $500K at its conclusion. Press Release

In a special December issue, SLAS Discovery will feature research focusing on drug discovery efforts toward the COVID-19 pandemic. The issue will include four reviews that cover the commonly utilized approach of repurposing drugs to rapidly treat SARS-CoV-2, as well as targeting the virus using new vaccines and clinical drugs. The article, High-Throughput Screening for Drugs that Inhibit Papain-Like Protease in SARS-CoV-2, explores how an ultra-high throughput screening platform targeting PLPro was used to investigate over 13,000 clinically applicable drugs, and another article of original research tests drug-like ligands for their efficacy against the MAC domain of SARS2 Nsp3, a novel approach. Press Release

The December issue of SLAS Technology will feature a special collection of articles addressing COVID-19 and focuses on the advancing technological innovations being used to address the novel coronavirus. The special collection includes seven articles of original research, in addition to two reviews and the featured cover article, Advances in Technology to Address COVID-19. Press Release

The Governance Lab (GovLab) at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering has released recommendations for the re-use of data in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The guidance and a new Responsible Data Re-Use framework stem from The Data Assembly initiative in New York City. The GovLab co-hosted four months of remote deliberations with civil rights organizations, key data holders, and policymakers and this newly published release is the product of this combined effort to guide New York decision-makers on potential costs and benefits of re-using data while considering the sometimes contradictory needs of various stakeholders. Press Release

The Wellcome Sanger Institute and the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) have received funding from the Department for Health and Social Care Testing Innovation Fund to expand whole genome sequencing of positive SARS-CoV-2 virus samples to track how COVID-19 is spreading and mutating. Since March 2020, COG-UK has generated more than 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes, made available to the public and making up over 45 percent of the global total. The Sanger Institute has rapidly established new sequencing pipelines and developed supporting software to sequence and analyze the virus samples. The genomic data will be used to monitor the virus as new vaccines are deployed and identify any mutations that may impact vaccine efficacy. Press Release

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New Virtual Reality Tool, Domestic Cats are SARS-CoV-2 Carriers, Combination Therapy Advances: COVID-19 Updates - Bio-IT World

SEATTLE, Nov. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --TwinStrand Biosciences today announced it has entered into a worldwide non-exclusive agreement to sublicense two foundational patent families to Foundation Medicine and its affiliates relating to TwinStrand Duplex Sequencing error-correction technology. Duplex Sequencing increases the accuracy of next-generation sequencing as much as 10,000 times, allowing the detection of ultra-low frequency mutations that would otherwise be hidden by technical noise inherent to the sequencing process.

"Staying at the forefront of innovative solutions toadvancecancer care iscentral toour commitment topatients," saidCindy Perettie, chief executive officer at Foundation Medicine. "We are excited to partner with TwinStrand to support doctors in making genomically-informed treatment decisions."

"This agreement validates the strength of TwinStrand's technology and intellectual property portfolio," said Dr. Jesse Salk, chief executive officer at TwinStrand Biosciences. "We are pleased that Foundation Medicine has partnered with us to use our patented technology to achieve the highest possible performance for liquid biopsy testing."

About TwinStrand Biosciences TwinStrand Biosciences is leading the way in identifying rare genetic variants that are undetectable by standard sequencing methods. The company's highly-sensitive and specific Duplex Sequencing technology delivers clearer insights to researchers and clinicians in applications ranging from residual cancer detection to genetic toxicology. This data can inform critical decisions in clinical medicine, public health and other fields of science on a faster timescale, where actions are most impactful. TwinStrand's scientist-leaders have authored more than a dozen peer-reviewed articles using Duplex Sequencing and have developed a portfolio of more than 70 patents and patent applications. The company has partnered with pharmaceutical companies, academic centers, clinical research networks and federal regulatory agencies to bring high precision genomics to the forefront of their science. For more information visitwww.twinstrandbio.com.

About Foundation Medicine Foundation Medicine is a molecular information company dedicated to a transformation in cancer care in which treatment is informed by a deep understanding of the genomic changes that contribute to each patient's unique cancer. The company offers a full suite of comprehensive genomic profiling assays to identify the molecular alterations in a patient's cancer and match them with relevant targeted therapies, immunotherapies and clinical trials. Foundation Medicine's molecular information platform aims to improve day-to-day care for patients by serving the needs of clinicians, academic researchers and drug developers to help advance the science of molecular medicine in cancer. For more information, please visit http://www.FoundationMedicine.comor follow Foundation Medicine on Twitter (@FoundationATCG). Foundation Medicine is a registered trademark of Foundation Medicine, Inc.

Media Contact: PR@twinstrandbio.com

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TwinStrand Biosciences Licenses Duplex Sequencing Technology to Foundation Medicine - Chinook Observer

Today, the global economy appears to be undergoing the largest technological transformation in history. As technologies emerge and transform entire industries, investors in traditional benchmarks may face more risk than historically has been the case.

In the upcoming webcast, Bad Ideas: The Industries That Could Be Disrupted by Innovation, Tasha Keeney, Analyst, ARK Invest; and Matt Murphy, Vice President, National ETF Sales, Resolute Investment Managers, will seek to identify the industries and sectors most at risk of disintermediation and disruption and size investors current exposure to those areas.

ARK Invests flagship ARK Innovation Fund (NYSEArca: ARKK) seeks to invest in the cornerstone companies taken from healthcare, technology, and industrial sectors that focus on investing in disruptive innovation. Such companies may include ones that benefit from big data, cloud computing, cryptocurrencies, the sharing economy, genomic sequencing, molecular medicine, agricultural biology, 3D printing, energy storage, and autonomous vehicles.

The actively managed fund includes companies that merge healthcare with technology and capitalize on the revolution in genomic sequencing. These companies try to better understand how biological information is collected, processed, and applied by reducing guesswork, enhancing precision, and improving our quality of life.

The technology component focuses on the next generation of internet names. These tech companies benefit from the shifting bases of technology infrastructure to the cloud, enabling mobile, infrastructure and services, internet-based products and services, new payment methods, big data, the internet of things, and social distribution and media.

Lastly, the industrial exposure covers a so-called new industrial revolution or advances in autonomous vehicles, robotics, 3D printing, and energy storage technology that are enhancing productivity, reducing costs, and transforming the manufacturing landscape.

Investors can look to theARK Industrial Innovation ETF (NYSEArca: ARKQ), ARK Web x.0 ETF (NYSEArca: ARKW), and ARK Genomic Revolution Multi-Sector Fund (NYSEArca: ARKG) to target the three innovative segments separately. The ARK Industrial Innovation ETF captures the converging industrial and technology sectors, capitalizing from autonomous vehicles, robotics, 3D printing, and energy storage technologies. The ARK Web x.0 ETF targets next-gen internet innovations like artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain technology. Lastly, the ARK Genomic Revolution Multi-Sector ETF tracks the convergence of tech and health care.

ARK Invest has also come out with the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) to help ETF investors capitalize on the burgeoning fintech industry that provides innovative financial solutions in a digital age. ARKF invests in equity securities of companies that ARK believes are shifting financial services and economic transactions to technology infrastructure platforms, ultimately revolutionizing financial services by creating simplicity and accessibility while driving down costs.

Financial advisors who are interested in learning more about disruptive industries can register for the Wednesday, November 18 webcast here.

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Bad Ideas: The Industries on Innovation's Chopping Block - ETF Trends

In multiple solid malignancies, including breast, ovarian, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers, there is a subset of patients with a hereditary predisposition for these diseases, but the current testing criteria do not mention this subset. In an effort to provide more information of genetic testing in this population, a study of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) patients was conducted to test the traditional guideline-based method of testing versus universal testing of a broad cancer patient population over a 5-year period.

A total of 7235 patients were included in the analysis and tested for 76 to 88 cancers. Through this study, investigators uncovered pathogenic and likely pathogenic (P/LP) variants in 7.5% (95% CI 6.6%- 8.4%) of 3,341 patients with breast cancer, 17.4% (95% CI, 14%- 21.6%) of 384 those with ovarian cancer, 13.5% (95% CI, 9.8%- 18%) of 252 patients with colorectal, and 8.8% (95% CI, 5.1%-14.8%) of 136 patients with pancreatic cancer.

Overall, the study found that testing with universal method was comparable to the guideline-based method, implying that universal testing can expand genetic testing to patient populations who are in need but are currently underserved.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology during the 2020 Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) Annual Meeting, Ozge Ceyhan-Birsoy, PhD, assistant directorof the Laboratoryfor Molecular Medicine, MSKCC, discussed genetic testing methods for patients with hereditary predisposition and the molecular research underway at MSKCC to improve testing in this patient population.

TARGTED ONCOLOGY: In recent years, what advances have we see in cancer genetics?

Ceyhan-Birsoy: There have been significant advances in the range of genetic testing options for cancer patients in recent years. More patients are now able to receive molecular testing on their tumors to identify optimal targeted therapies for their cancer and germline genetic testing to uncover hereditary cancer predisposition. A paired analysis of tumor and normal DNA is increasingly being adapted, which improves the interpretation of both somatic and germline mutations. Additionally, incorporation of RNA analysis has expanded the scope of mutations that can be detected and characterized. Finally, the use of cell-free DNA now allows us to profile a patients tumor using only their blood.

TARGETED ONCOLOGY: How can hereditary predisposition inform oncologist for care/treatment decisions?

Ceyhan-Birsoy: Identifying hereditary mutations that predispose patients to cancer has important implications for their treatment and management. There are established targeted therapies available now for certain germline defects. For instance, germline mutations in certain homologous recombination and mismatch repair genes can predict response to PARP inhibitor and immune-checkpoint inhibitor therapies, respectively. Some therapies may pose high risk for patients with particular gene mutations, such as radiation therapy risks for patients with germline TP53 mutations. In addition, identifying hereditary cancer predisposition is critical to allow timely surveillance and prophylactic interventions for future cancers that the patient may be at higher risk of developing. As germline mutations are heritable, this information provides the opportunity for early surveillance in the patients family members, as well.

TARGETED ONCOLOGY: Can you explain how this MSKCC study came about?

Ceyhan-Birsoy: Genetic testing for hereditary cancer predisposition is traditionally performed in a guideline-dependent and targeted manner. In current practice, only patients who meet established criteria from national and professional organizations receive genetic testing and typically get tested for a small number of genes selected based on their tumor type, age of onset, and family histories. MSKCC has been 1 of the first institutes to pilot a universal testing approach for cancer patients, providing comprehensive germline testing of all known cancer predisposition genes without pre-selection of patients based on traditional genetic testing criteria. We have been performing both targeted and universal testing for our patients since 2015.

In this study, we aimed to understand how the yields (positive rates) of these 2 testing approaches compare to each other in greater than 4000 patients who had traditional and more than 9,000 patients who had universal testing at MSKCC in the past 5 years. We also assessed whether universal testing identified additional findings that would have been missed in a targeted testing approach for any given patient.

TARGETED ONCOLOGY: What are the key results of this analysis?

Ceyhan-Birsoy: We saw that universal germline testing without preselection of patients based on current guidelines yielded comparable rates of positive results to traditional guideline-dependent testing approach, particularly in patients with breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers. In addition, universal testing uncovered mutations that predispose to other cancers in about 9% of patients in genes that are not routinely tested for their diagnosis. Approximately half of those conferred high to moderate risk to cancer and about 40% of them implicated early surveillance or prophylactic surgery recommendations to prevent other cancers.

TARGETED ONCOLOGY: What is a key takeaway from your AMP 2020 presentation and explain the implications of these findings?

Ceyhan-Birsoy: Our results suggest that the preselection of patients for genetic testing based on the current guidelines may not significantly increase the likelihood of identifying a germline mutation in certain patient populations. A universal and comprehensive testing approach further provides the benefit of identifying hereditary risk for other cancers, allowing early surveillance and prophylactic interventions.

TARGETED ONCOLOGY: How can this information be applied in oncology clinics?

Ceyhan-Birsoy: Our study underlies the advantages of universal and comprehensive testing for cancer patients. However, there are many challenges that may limit the application of this approach for all cancer patients, including the cost of testing, resources needed to provide pre-test and post-test genetic counseling to patients, and the potential to discover more variants of uncertain significance that may lead to higher number of inconclusive results. Future efforts should be dedicated to providing wider groups of cancer patients access to genetic testing, which can aid in their clinical care and in the care of their family members.

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Molecular Testing With Universal Method Comparable to Traditional Method in Hereditary Solid Tumors - Targeted Oncology

This article was originally published here

Eur Respir J. 2020 Nov 19:2003406. doi: 10.1183/13993003.03406-2020. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Epigenetic mechanisms represent potential molecular routes which could bridge the gap between genetic background and environmental risk factors contributing to the pathogenesis of pulmonary diseases. In patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), there is emerging evidence of aberrant epigenetic marks, mainly including DNA methylation and histone modifications which directly mediate reversible modifications to the DNA without affecting the genomic sequence. Post-translational events and microRNAs can be also epigenetically regulated and potentially participate to disease pathogenesis. Thus, novel pathogenic mechanisms and putative biomarkers may be detectable in peripheral blood, sputum, nasal and buccal swabs, or lung tissue. Besides, DNA methylation plays an important role during the early phases of fetal development and may be impacted by environmental exposures, ultimately influencing an individuals susceptibility to COPD, asthma, and PAH later in life. With the advances in omics platforms and the application of computational biology tools, modelling the epigenetic variability in a network framework, rather than as single molecular defects, is providing insights into the possible molecular pathways underlying the pathogenesis of COPD, asthma, and PAH. Epigenetic modifications may have clinical applications as non-invasive biomarkers of pulmonary diseases. Moreover, combining molecular assays with network analysis of epigenomic data may aid in clarifying the multi-stage transition from a pre-disease to disease state, with the goal of improving primary prevention of lung diseases and its subsequent clinical management.We describe epigenetic mechanisms known to be associated with pulmonary diseases and discuss how network analysis could improve our understanding of lung diseases.

PMID:33214212 | DOI:10.1183/13993003.03406-2020

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Epigenetics and pulmonary diseases in the horizon of precision medicine: a review - DocWire News

Back in July, scientists predicted there would be 250,000 deaths in the US from Covid-19 by the years end. That terrible landmark has now been passed, earlier than projected, and amid a storm far more daunting than anyone could have anticipated.

A quarter of a million dead Americans. More than 11m confirmed cases. Coronavirus is out of control in America.

It is romping freely across the vast landmass of the US. Infection rates are surging in 44 of the 50 states, as the country enters the cold, dark winter which will force people back indoors and at the mercy of the virus.

All this is happening at a time when the president is so distracted by the electoral coup he is vainly attempting to pull off that he no longer even pretends to care about containing the disease.

Last week a new peak of more than 184,000 new cases was reported on a single day. Thats six times the total number of cases recorded in South Korea since the pandemic began.

With the number of infections soaring, the inevitable dance of death that has been performed on a loop in the US through the pandemic has started up once again. The first step is that hospitalizations start to rise they have increased across the country by almost 48% in the past two weeks, according to the New York Times tracker, and now stand at almost 77,000 patients.

Next, hospitals begin to report that they are being overrun and that their ICUs are full to overflowing. When staffing levels become critically stretched, thats when were in the danger zone.

At the end of the dance come the deaths. The level of fatalities has remained mercifully low compared with the April highs, a result of improved medical understanding of the virus, more effective treatments and hospitals that having been through the initial trauma are now better prepared.

But with states including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Montana, the Dakotas, Colorado and Georgia all reporting that their hospital systems are entering crisis mode meaning that they will struggle to provide patients with the intensive care they need it is only a matter of time before the death rate creeps up too.

As indeed it already is. About 1,500 Americans are currently dying each day from coronavirus-related causes, with the rate rising steadily in 30 states.

Within that daily toll of death and bereavement, there are specific tragedies that stem from Americas racial disparities. Recent research by APM Research Lab has found that African Americans, Latinos and indigenous people continue to die at three times the rate of white people. At least 1,375 deaths are US healthcare workers who died while treating or caring for Covid patients, according to Lost on the Frontline, a project launched by the Guardian and KHN to track healthcare worker deaths during the pandemic.

Eric Topol, professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research in San Diego, summed up the mood among scientists at this grim landmark is crossed: These metrics are off-the-chart horrendous, he wrote. Jumps like weve never seen in each category of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Over the past 10 months the world has become familiar with the negligence and disdain for science with which Donald Trump has approached the pandemic. His initial response was stuttering and mendacious, and instead of focusing on spearheading a federal push to control the contagion he weaponized the debate about masks as a political tool to be wielded as part of his re-election bid.

What we are seeing unfolding now is potentially far more serious than even the disaster over which he has presided thus far. While the country is being engulfed in crisis, Trump has gone awol, the equivalent in a pandemic of Franklin Roosevelt disappearing shortly before D-Day.

An analysis by Factbase of Trumps tweets for the week following the election found that out of 202 posts, more than 80% related to his defeat to Joe Biden and the lie Trump is propagating that the election was stolen from him. Only 10 of the tweets referred to Covid, and of those none talked about the surge in cases, the enormous human suffering that entails, or what the American people can and should do about it.

In the same seven-day period, about 900,000 Americans contracted the disease and 7,500 died from it. Yet Trump remained completely oblivious to their plight.

The disconnect between Trumps personal obsessions and the tumult facing the country he purportedly leads has never been as stark as it is today. All his energies are currently being expended on hanging on to the presidency, so that he can continue to do nothing to protect the American people from a microbe.

As CNNs Jake Tapper put it, Trump appears to be desperately, even pathetically, fighting to keep a job that he has no apparent interest in responsibly performing.

It all bodes extremely badly for the next two months of the lame duck Trump presidency.

But at least there are signs of hope amid the gloom. Two vaccines under development in the US by Pfizer and Moderna have been found to be 95% effective in protecting against the disease, and could be rolled out to vulnerable populations as early as next month.

Some Republican politicians continue to follow Trump in his refusal to engage with the pandemic notably Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, which is ground zero in the current surge in infections. She has clung closely to the Trump playbook, brazenly insisting that her state is doing good even while it self-implodes, resisting mask mandates and pooh-poohing any talk of lockdowns.

Yet other Republicans though have finally begun to wake up to the need to act to contain the virus. Mike DeWine, the governor of Ohio, announced a spate of new measures to enforce masks and social distancing, joining Democratic leaders in Chicago, New York and elsewhere who have similarly begun to batten down the hatches.

That will give the president-elect some bipartisan room for maneuver as he prepares to hit the ground running with his pandemic plan following his inauguration on 20 January. He will come into the White House armed with a mandate from voters to put tackling coronavirus as top priority of his new administration, having made it the centerpiece of his presidential campaign.

Early indications are that he fully intends to follow through on that electoral promise. His first act following his victory was to convene a 12-person coronavirus taskforce to advise him through the transition, drawn from a range of scientific specialisms including infectious diseases, public health and emergency medicine.

Biden also underlined the centrality of fighting coronavirus to his nascent presidency by appointing Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff. Klain is no stranger to the challenges of dealing with health emergencies he was Barack Obamas Ebola tsar in 2014.

Klain has studied closely the Trump administrations mishandling of the pandemic, and can be expected to have learned the lessons. He has called the effort so far a fiasco of incredible proportions.

The US undoubtedly faces difficult times ahead, with the worst of the pandemic still to come. But the first green shoots are finally emerging of a strategic national and science-led offensive to wrestle the virus under control.

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US engulfed in crisis as Covid death toll hits 250000 but there are signs of hope - The Guardian

Researchers at McMaster University are studying the saliva-based testing procedures that would enable routine testing of asymptomatic individuals on a large scale.

Worldwide, COVID-19 testing has been plagued by shortages of testing kits and materials, as well as a lack of capacity in clinical testing facilities.

Researchers believe the development and implementation of high-capacity testing procedureswhich could be done in university labswould enable large-scale and routine testing of asymptomatic people to better identify cases, isolate infected individuals and limit the spread of COVID-19.

To date, global confirmed cases are over 55 million, with 1.34 million deaths. It is believed that roughly 40 to 45 per cent of patients infected are asymptomatic and are responsible for about half of all transmissions.

With cases mounting and enormous pressure on testing capacity in Canada, it is imperative that we identify alternative approaches, says Eric Brown, a professor of biochemistry and biomedical sciences and a researcher at the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research.

Testing saliva samples from every Canadian on a routine basis would lead to a dramatic decline in infections, sickness and death. University labs are an entirely untapped resource and could help immensely in finding our way out of this pandemic, he says.

Brown and a team of experts in immunology, infectious diseases, biomedical engineering and evolutionary genetics, will test hundreds of volunteers throughout the study, three times per week, using a protocol where participants self-sample by providing a small amount of saliva in a sample tube.

We call it the spit study, says Brown, who explains that saliva samples resolve many outstanding issues related to nasal swab testing, which is complicated and unpleasant and requires trained medical professionals who are at risk from a procedure that often induces coughing and sneezing.

Researchers are also conducting serology tests, which identify antibodies in the blood, to measure the incidence of false-negative and false-positive results of the saliva tests.

By combining saliva testing which tells us if a person has an infection right now, with antibody testing, which tells us if they have ever had an infection, we will be able to confirm how good our test is at finding infections, even in people who didnt have symptoms, says Dawn Bowdish, a principal investigator on the study and professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster.

Researchers hope to gain a better understanding of how to produce saliva-based tests on a commercial scale, the logistics involved in using them and how testing might impact workplaces such as universities, industry and long-term care homes.

Amica is proud to be a part of this important study. Saliva-based testing allows us to identify and isolate asymptomatic cases early helping to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This protects our team members and the seniors who call Amica home, says Doug MacLatchy, CEO of Amica Senior Lifestyles, which has partially funded the study, together with the Juravinski Research Institute.

The study is part of McMasters Global Nexus for Pandemics and Biological Threats, an international network of scientists, clinical health and medical specialists, engineers, social scientists, and other experts working collaboratively to prevent future pandemics and mitigate global health threats.

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Mac team working on saliva-based test procedure for COVID - The Bay Observer - Providing a Fresh Perspective for Hamilton and Burlington

Dr. Cline Gounder 97 and Dr. Eric Goosby 74 were recently named as members of President-elect Joe Bidens COVID-19 Advisory Board, which aids the Biden transition teams response to COVID-19.

Its a tremendous honor and privilege to be asked to serve in the midst of a crisis like this, and Im just glad I have the training and experience to be of help, Gounder told The Daily Princetonian.

Gounder is Clinical Assistant Professor at New York University and cares for patients at Bellevue Hospital Center. According to the Biden-Harris Transition Teams official website, she studied how to treat tuberculosis and HIV in South Africa, Lesotho, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Brazil from 1998 to 2012. She later served as Assistant Commissioner and Director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Goosby is an internationally recognized expert on infectious diseases and Professor of Medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine, according to the website. He served as the founding director of the Ryan White CARE Act, the largest federally funded HIV/AIDS program during the Clinton Administration. During the Obama presidency, Goosby implemented the U.S. Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and was later appointed as Special Envoy for tuberculosis by the United Nations Secretary General.

Goosby, who majored in biology before attending medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, did not respond to a request for comment.

At the University, Gounder began as a pre-med engineer, but she later switched to Molecular Biology. Her senior thesis, for which she conducted research with professor Arnold Levine at the World Health Organization, inspired her to seek a career in public health.

Public health allows you to leverage science in service of people, Gounder said.

After graduating, Gounder deferred her enrollment to Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to work with former presidential candidate and activist Ralph Nader 55 on Capitol Hill, where she observed policies being created in real time.

Those are pretty amazing opportunities that are still paying dividends today, Gounder said.

Gounder and Goosbys role on the Advisory Board is, among other purposes, to provide a public-health perspective on plans drafted over the last several months. The outgoing Trump administrations refusal to grant access to confidential intelligence briefings, however, has complicated the Advisory Boards work.

The fact that the GSA, so Government Services Administration, has still not gone through ascertainment, or ascertained the election results, is a major problem because thats preventing us from legally being able to move forward with conversations with folks in the administration right now in terms of interfacing with our counterparts and getting really critical information, Gounder explained.

She analogized the current situation to a war where those in power withhold essential information.

Where are we at with our supply chains for any number of critical materials? Whats the quality control on those items? Where are they? How quickly can they be deployed elsewhere, maybe reallocated elsewhere depending on the need? she asked.

Were not being given that information. And so, while we have access to publicly available information, it would be like saying, oh, well, you can wage war reading The New York Times, thats enough information, she said. I mean, obviously thats crazy. People are dying in the meantime.

Though COVID-19 cases are surging across the country, many Americans still intend to travel during Thanksgiving a fact that Gounder characterized as a paradox.

If these are people you love and care about, the most important thing you can do to show that you care about them is [to] follow these mitigation measures, she said.

Gounder believes cases will continue to rise rapidly over December and January, before Biden takes office. She emphasized the widespread danger that faces the United States, which she said faces pandemic conditions similar to those of late February and early March.

I think people have been through it, theyre exhausted, and I think for them to understand what an emergency we are in right now, what is brewing, what is about to hit, I just dont think people are ready to hear it, she said. And I think they wont recognize it until it hits them.

In terms of a vaccine, Gounder urged that promising data from Pfizer and Moderna be taken with a grain of salt. While the vaccines inch closer to federal approval, she believes much remains to be surmounted, including vaccine production and distribution.

I think there is light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is still long, she said.

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Goosby '74, Gounder '97 named to Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board - The Daily Princetonian