Oak Ridge neutron facilities ramping up research to combat COVID-19

At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, it’s all-hands-on-deck for the world-leading experts in neutron scattering as they enter the fight against COVID-19. Researchers at the lab’s Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor have a plan of attack to unleash a full barrage of neutron capabilities in an ambitious set of experiments that will provide critical pieces of information about the virus’s biological structure and how it behaves.

Epidemiology expert: Strive for diversity in COVID-19 vaccine/drug clinical trials

As clinical trials on potential vaccines and treatment drugs for the COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus get underway, researchers should strive for diversity in test subject selection, according to a leading expert on the topic. Marjorie A. Speers,…

Understanding How COVID-19 Affects Children Vital to Slowing Pandemic, Doctors Say

Though COVID-19 so far appears to be largely sparing children, researchers are cautioning that it is critical to understand how the virus affects kids to model the pandemic accurately, limit the disease’s spread and ensure the youngest patients get the care they need.

COVID-19 Expert Panel Live Event Series – Media Invited to Attend and Submit Questions, 2 PM EDT Thursday March 12 and 2 PM EDT Monday March 16

redirect to event registration   Newswise Live Expert Panel discussion of unique angles to the COVID-19 outbreak of interest to the public and the media, including public health, testing, business and financial markets, 2020 elections, and more. Experts from institutions…

Russian biologist explains recent findings regarding coronavirus structure

MOSCOW (MIPT) — The atomic structure of the novel coronavirus envelope has explained why it is exceptionally contagious. Its structural features make it much easier for the Chinese coronavirus to bind to target receptors, compared with the previously known SARS…

Wistar Joins Global Effort to Expedite Coronavirus Vaccine Development for Outbreak Originating in China

Wistar announces today that they are part of a team to develop a vaccine against the recently emerged strain of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) that has infected hundreds in China and other countries, including the U.S., and resulted in numerous deaths to date. Wistar is part of a collaboration funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

Researchers Identify Potential Formula for Blood Cancer Vaccine

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered a way to move precision immunotherapy forward by using genomics to inform immunotherapy for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer, according to a study published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, in December.

Natural Toxins in the Global Food Supply Continue to Threaten the Health of Underprivileged Communities

Naturally occurring chemicals in the global food supply are known to pose a burden on worldwide health. New studies have found that a certain foodborne toxin, in addition to its known health effects,, is also linked to vaccine resistance, and for the first time the global burden of disease from foodborne arsenic, lead, cadmium, and methyl mercury has been quantified.. The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) will present new studies as part of its Global Disease Burden Caused by Foodborne Chemicals and Toxins symposium on Monday, Dec. 9 from 1:30-3:00 p.m. as part of its 2019 Annual Meeting at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. This symposium will provide updates to a 2015 World Health Organization (WHO) publication which analyzed the disease burdens caused by these toxins.

HOW MEASLES WIPES OUT THE BODY’S IMMUNE MEMORY

Study shows measles wipes out 20 to 50 percent of antibodies against an array of viruses and bacteria, depleting a child’s previous immunity
Measles-ravaged immune system must “relearn” how to protect the body against infections
Study details mechanism and scope of this measles-induced “immune amnesia”
Findings underscore importance of measles vaccination, suggesting those infected with measles may benefit from booster shots of all previous childhood vaccines

Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Infectious Diseases Researcher Awarded NIH Contract to Accelerate TB Vaccine Development

CWRU’s W. Henry Boom, MD, and a team of collaborators nationally received the first installment of a seven-year contract, totaling $30 million in its first year from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the NIH, to establish three immunology research centers to accelerate TB vaccine development.

Vaccine to Block Digestive Hormone May Slow Growth of Pancreatic Cancer

New research suggests a vaccine that blocks a digestive hormone may slow the spread of pancreatic cancer, potentially increasing survival rates. The study, published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, was chosen as an APSselect article for October.

Flu Experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine

As the 2019–20 flu season gets underway, Johns Hopkins Medicine experts will be available throughout the season to talk with your newsroom about the epidemiology of this year’s virus, as well as provide important information about this year’s vaccine. Flu cases have already begun to appear in the U.S. Flu activity tends to increase in October and can run as late as May.