Dr. Poznansky joins Cheddar News to discuss recent progress towards a vaccine for Covid-19
How do we go back to work? One hospital’s procedures show the way
When can we safely return to work and our normal way of life? How do we balance the health of people individually with the health of our nation economically?
Dr. Mark Poznansky helps us find the answer in a new opinion piece for The Hill.
Dr. Mark Poznansky was interviewed live on MSNBC
Dr. Mark Poznansky was interviewed live on All in with Chris Hayes MSNBC, April 14 to discuss vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris acknowledged that Dr. Poznansky is beginning research on a vaccine at the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center at MGH and the discussion was based around the timeline for a vaccine and the efficacy of a vaccine before it can be used on millions of people worldwide. Dr. Poznansky also said that links with industry are crucial in order to move forward with efficacy studies and manufacturing after the initial vaccine design and noted that we are collaborating with Voltron, Inc and Hoth Therapeutics for this purpose.
Can We Really Develop a Safe, Effective Coronavirus Vaccine?
The Scientific American article makes for very interesting reading – written by William A. Haseltine a mentor of Mark Poznansky, when he was doing research in the HIV field.
“In the event of any infectious disease outbreak, our minds turn to vaccines—and they do so for good reason. They’re safe, relatively expensive and have worked well for diseases including smallpox, polio, yellow fever, and, most recently, Ebola.
Will a vaccine come as easily for the novel coronavirus? The answer is maybe yes, maybe not. The “maybe yes” comes from the observation that in animal studies, coronaviruses stimulate strong immune responses, which seem capable of knocking out the virus. Recovery from COVID-19 may be in large part due to effective immune response. The “maybe not” comes from evidence just as strong, at least with earlier SARS and MERS viruses, that natural immunity to these viruses is short-lived. In fact, some animals can be reinfected with the very same strain that caused infection in the first place…”
Chinese-American community in Winchester collecting PPE donations for frontline workers
VIC Senior Scientist Huabiao Chen, PhD assists the Chinese-American (CAN-WIN) community in Winchester in the distribution of much need PPE to local hospitals and frontline workers in the community.
COVID-19 Hackers and Hustlers All Hands: Virtual Town Hall
This Thursday, Dr. Mark Poznansky and Dr. Patrick Reeves from VIC will join Boston’s Hackers and Hustlers Meetup for a virtual Town Hall. They’ll cover how to implement both immediate and mid/long-term solutions in the fight against COVID-19.
If you’d like to hear first-hand from experts in immunotherapy and have the chance to ask your own questions, please join on Thursday at 6pm ET. View MeetUp details below.
The Coronavirus Economic Recovery Must Begin Now
Opinion piece by Mark C. Poznansky, MD, PhD in the Boston Globe on measures required for the economic recovery from the coronavirus.
“Right now, the overwhelming emphasis to combat the COVID-19 pandemic is appropriately placed on testing for the virus, protecting those who are most susceptible, treating the sick, and flattening the pandemic peak. Tremendous leadership, innovation, and dedication to containing the disease across each of these areas continues to evolve.”
VIC Lab Meeting In The Time of COVID
Our new normal – virtual lab meetings!
Lab meeting via Zoom – Doing our bit to defeat COVID-19 – social distancing while developing point of care tests immune tests and a new vaccine
VIC Pivots to Address COVID-19 Pandemic
We face a time of great uncertainty as a result of the Coronavirus or COVID-19 Pandemic that comes along with unprecedented events of every type, physical, social and economic.
VIC finds itself at the epicenter of this battle against an entirely new foe while being at the forefront of rapid vaccine development for emerging infectious diseases. The VIC team has worked very hard with the US Government and Biotechnology Companies and we have put in place a plan to turn our rapid vaccine development platform, VaxCelerate, towards the development of a safe and effective self-assembling vaccine for COVID-19 and, on a separate front, for the rapid development of a new blood test for the virus.
To begin to turn this wheel we need start-up support in the amount of $500K. Our donors have been amazingly generous over the past 11 years making VIC what is today with 9 new medical products under development, three first in human studies and 3 biotech company spinouts.
Collectively, with your help, we are now in the right place and at the right time to join the battle against the Coronavirus and you should know that your contributions will go directly towards VIC’s mission to assist in the global cause.
Thank you for your support,
Mark C. Poznansky MD, PhD
Get To Know the Key People Behind Beta Cell Replacement Therapy in Boston
Join us for an inside look at the collaborations and skills that researchers in Boston are using to tackle the complex task of replacing beta cells in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Beta cell replacement is the art and science of taking or making beta cells from outside a person’s body, and then putting those new cells inside a person to replace their own damaged or destroyed beta cells. Funding beta cell replacement research is also one of JDRF’s most critical undertakings, essential in our mission to find cures for T1D.