Expert: Outbreak Transmission Dynamics
As the world grapples for answers and action on the new coronavirus outbreak, researchers who study the dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks are quickly digging into the data. It’s familiar territory for Derek Cummings, Ph.D., a professor of biology at the University of Florida’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Emerging Pathogens Institute. Cummings […]
Algernon Explores the Use of NP-120 (Ifenprodil) as a Novel Treatment for Coronavirus
UF startup Algernon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical development company, announced that it is exploring the potential of using NP-120 (Ifenprodil) as a novel treatment for COVID-19, also known as the coronavirus. A recent independent study found that Ifenprodil significantly reduced acute lung injury (ALI) and improved survivability in an animal study with H5N1 infected […]
Coronavirus Consultant
John Lednicky, Ph.D., is a research professor, microbiologist and molecular biologist at UF’s College of Public Health and Health Professions and the Emerging Pathogens Institute where he studies an array of disease-causing microorganisms. He has spent decades investigating coronaviruses that affect people, bats, birds, cats, cows, dogs, ferrets, mice, and even pigs. But some of this work […]
How to Mentally Cope With the Coronavirus
Beyond making people sick, the coronavirus has spurred anxiety and panic as it spreads across the globe and in the United States. But Sherry Benton, founder and chief science officer of online therapy provider TAO Connect, a UF startup, says the paranoia surrounding the potential pandemic is vastly overblown. “You’ve got to step back and […]
UF Scientists Are Trying to Prevent the Next “Coronavirus” in Florida
University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers, Kwang Cheol Jeong, Ph.D., and Samantha Wisely, Ph.D., are looking at the zoonotic potential of feral swine. These animals carry the pathogen that causes brucellosis, the most frequent wildlife disease that infects humans. If they also carry disease that can spread to domestic pigs or […]