In response to the global SARS-CoV-2 crisis, and in close consultation with leadership of the Perelman School of Medicine, we are excited to announce the founding of the Penn Center for Research on Coronaviruses and Other Emerging Pathogens.
The goals of the Center are to 1) Accelerate SARS-CoV-2 research under Biosafety Level 3 containment, 2) Provide centralized information on SARS-CoV-2 research at Penn, and 3) Compile information on funding opportunities for research on SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens.
The Center will be led by Susan Weiss and Frederic Bushman. A highly distinguished set of researchers from Penn, CHOP and Wistar have agreed to serve as our internal advisory board.
Already Penn researchers are expanding stocks of SARS-CoV-2 and beginning studies of viral replication and inhibition. The Center is working to expand these efforts and to create new research opportunities in this area.
It is gratifying to see how rapidly the Penn community has come together to address this global health crisis. We have much to do.
Papers on Coronaviruses from the Penn Community
ANNOUNCEMENTS
A single and two-stage, closed-tube, molecular test for the 2019 novel coronavirus at home, clinic, and points of entry, El-Tholoth, Bau and Song, in “ChemRxiv”
No credible evidence supporting claims of the laboratory engineering of SARS-CoV-2, Liu, Saif, Weiss and Su, “Emerging Microbes and Infections”
TWITTER
More than a third of recent COVID-19 samples from Philadelphia-area patients were caused by variants, according to a new analysis from the @bushmanlab. “So it’s a battle that’s right on the edge,” said @PennMicro Chair Frederic Bushman, PhD.
https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/covid-19-worrisome-variants-challenge-vaccination-progress-and-relaxed-precautions-20210330.html
Check out this exciting COVID-19 airway microbiome study on MedRxiv! I'm lucky to have had a small part in this preprint. Great work @CMerenstein @bushmanlab and everyone involved! https://twitter.com/CMerenstein/status/1379131370740588550
Learn about the human virome in this review from @bushmanlab & @GuanxiangL #virome https://twitter.com/NatureRevMicro/status/1376931616594006019
Excited to see the @bushmanlab COVID-19 airway microbiome manuscript on MedRxiv! Here's some of what we found:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.02.21254514v1