First doses of the COVID-19 vaccines are now quickly rolling out across Canada and in light of recent news, Mass General Hospital’s Dr. Mark Poznansky discusses the topic of mixing and matching vaccines, and what the future of a COVID-19 booster shot could look like. Listen to the full @SXMCanadaTalks interview with host Matt Gurney here: https://soundcloud.com/
All smiles for VIC scientists celebrating in person, a promotion for one colleague and a new NIH grant award for another colleague. An outdoor dinner was a welcome change to a virtual meeting.
Voltron Therapeutics, Inc announces COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness presentation to congressional offices and agencies, including HHS, NIH, FDA, and DoD.
Presenters included VIC’s Mark C. Poznansky, MD, PhD, FRCP, FIDSA, Michael V. Callahan, MD, MSPH, DTM&H and Patrick M Reeves, PhD discussing state of the art vaccines for COVID-19 and variants.
“NEW YORK, April 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Voltron Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the Company presented to Congressional Offices and Agencies, including HHS, NIH, FDA and the DoD on Thursday April 8th. This follows dozens of recent one-on-one briefings with Congressional staffers.
Presentations focused on current challenges being faced by governments due to COVID-19 mutations and why further vaccine development and innovation, especially in vaccine platforms, is vital. This is not just true for COVID-19, but for emerging variants and future pandemic pathogens. Panelists also discussed a potential solution under development that is based on Self-Assembling Vaccine technology developed at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center and licensed by Voltron. This technology is designed to ensure that the US is ready to protect both citizens and warfighters from existing, emerging and mutating pathogens.”
“BOSTON — It promised convenience, ease of storage and protection against serious COVID-19 illness. And by all accounts, Johnson & Johnson/Janssen’s single-dose vaccine is living up to those claims. But is all that coming with a price?
U.S. regulators now have the difficult task of figuring out whether six cases of cerebral blood clots that developed just weeks after immunization are an actual side effect of the vaccine.
“In the general population this condition exists in the absence of vaccination and is a very rare condition,” said Dr. Mark Poznansky, director of Mass General’s Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center. “When you start vaccinating lots of people, you can get these sort of findings. And it’s really incumbent upon the FDA to work out is it cause or is it just a random association?””
Dr. Mark Poznansky, Dr. Dara Udo and Dr. Jacki Hart discuss the options of a one-dose versus two-dose vaccine regimen depending on previous exposure to COVID-19.
“As I rolled over in my sweat-drenched sheets, head throbbing, eyes heavy and feeling nauseated, I could pinpoint every aching muscle in my body. The combination of symptoms was all too familiar. Though drastically less severe, it was eerily similar to being sick from COVID-19 roughly a year prior. This time, however, my symptoms occurred after receiving the vaccine the day before. Several fellow health care workers had reported parallel experiences following their vaccinations — some after their first dose and others after their second.”
VIC colleagues, Dr. Mark Poznansky and Dr. Michael Callahan along with MGH Infectious Disease physician Dr. Jake Lemieux, discuss the emergence of COVID-19 variants, the impact on global health and the need for all nations to work together.
“With new COVID-19 cases in steady decline across the United States, and the pace of vaccination accelerating, Americans may feel optimistic about what feels like a turning point. Despite this encouraging news and crucial progress, the uncontrolled, global spread of COVID-19 has produced a new problem: mutant viruses or variants, several of which are proving difficult to control.”
David Alagapulinsa, PhD, research fellow, was recently interviewed by The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (JDRF) for their Black History Month celebrations, on his love for the Type 1 Diabetes research he is doing at VIC.
“A goal of David Alagpulinsa, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital, is to contribute to a treatment that makes people with type 1 diabetes live like everyone—without T1D and its related complications.”
“Six MGHers have been named to Cell Mentor’s list of 1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America. They are: David Alagpulinsa, PhD, research fellow in the Infectious Disease Unit; Emery N. Brown, MD, PhD, director of the Neuroscience Statistic Research Laboratory in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine; Sherri-Ann Burnett-Bowie, MD, MPH, associate director of the MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion; Jonathan Jackson, PhD, founder and executive director of the Community Access, Recruitment & Engagement (CARE); Victoria Parker, PhD, research fellow in Radiology; and Camille Powe, MD, endocrinologist and co-director of the MGH Diabetes in Pregnancy Program. This list was created to compel and imbue the next generation of Black scientists and other minoritized individuals to enhance and empower our culture’s dignity.”
The Biden administration is already quickly working on a vaccine strategy for distribution in the United States. Mass General Hospital’s Dr. Mark Poznansky spoke with @SXMCanadaTalks host Matt Gurney about what the timelines could look like. Dr. Poznansky says he’s optimistic and that while “it’s never fast enough given the pandemic curve we’re on at the moment, at least it’s happening step-by-step.
Dear Family and Friends of VIC,
This has been a difficult year. With your help VIC has risen to the challenge by pivoting to address COVID-19 while continuing uninterrupted by the pandemic to develop new vaccines and immunotherapies for cancer, infectious and immune mediated diseases.
Several of our key achievements in 2020 are outlined below but please read the attached for more detail on VIC scientists’ exciting research
We would like to thank all family and friends of VIC, old and new, including Analog Devices, UniFirst and New England Biolabs, who made donations this year and helped make the impossible possible. You all helped bring VIC successfully and impactfully through this very challenging year. We are grateful for your continued support into 2021.
A Very Happy Thanksgiving to All from,
Dr. Mark Poznansky, Dr. Ann Sluder & the VIC team