What are the practical implications of the new strains of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19? What advice do people need? John P. Haran , MD, PhD, associate professor of emergency medicine and…, What do we know about the coronavirus mutations and how prevalent they are in the community?, “These variants are the natural evolution of viruses, and not just viruses, but life. Bacteria do this on a slower scale and humans do it on a much slower scale. What viruses do is they introduce…, What is the impact of the new variants?, “The B.1.1.7 strain had mutations that made it easier to make copies of itself. It is causing a lot higher number of viral particles in the upper respiratory tract. And that gives it an advantage…, Do the current mRNA vaccines appear to protect against known variants?, “As far as we know right now, we believe that the vaccine is still effective because of where the mutations occur. “Pfizer put out recently a non-peer-reviewed paper in which they took the serum from…, Are the current guidelines about mask wearing and social distancing still what people should follow?, “Those policies don’t need to be changed; they need to be adhered to. It is more important than ever. The problem with the pandemic is as it keeps going on, people get tired of wearing a mask, social…, What about being less at risk when you’re outdoors?, “Being outside is just a proxy measure for social distancing. If you’re outside and you’re doing things you’re usually farther apart. Air circulation can also be thought to be part of that. But cold…, Are people who previously had COVID-19 getting reinfected with the variant strains?, “Yes they are, but we don’t know to what extent they are. There’s a little bit of questioning, when someone returns with a second infection, whether it is the same, prolonged infection, or something…, What else should people know about coronavirus variants?, “Getting answers to these questions, in the previous world we lived in, took years of research and we’re trying to fast track all of this. So sometimes we think we know the right answer and it…
Type: News
UMass Medical School, in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City of Worcester, Worcester State University and Saint Vincent Hospital, will play an integral role in a COVID-19…
Type: News
A team of researchers led by Department of Chemistry Chemistry Asst. Prof. Asst. Prof. Manos Gkikas Manos Gkikas is developing an advanced X-ray imaging method that aims to improve the detection…, A Silent Killer, Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in American women and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women, according to the American Cancer Society. The organization estimates that…
Type: News
Resilience is the capacity of a system to absorb a shock and recover from it without a significant loss of performance. For civil infrastructure systems subject to extreme events, this performance is…
Type: News
On January 28, 2021, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts honored UMass Dartmouth Director of Health Services Marianne Sullivan and Director of the Fitness Center Greg Homol as the recipients of the…, Sullivan, . “I have seen the selflessness of individuals and their willingness to work together to make our fall semester successful. New collaborations and working relationships have given us a new sense of…, Homol, . “We set out to make the testing process pleasant, and not a burden or an inconvenience. We connected with our students, faculty, and staff. We asked how things were going, what they were doing for…, Dr. Shannon Finning, , Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. “Their dedication to our on-campus Testing Facility has allowed our students to continue striving towards their academic ambitions and our faculty and staff to…
Type: News
Director of UMass Boston’s Center for Governance and Sustainability and McCormack Graduate School Associate Professor Maria Ivanova has been appointed for a four-year term to the World Climate…
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Now that the new Biden administration has made tackling climate change a top priority, researchers from UMass Lowell are helping policymakers better understand why the issue is so urgent. The…, Q: What will the CCI’s role be in the upcoming simulations with policymakers? A:, In addition to helping facilitate the simulations, we’re going to research their impact on policymakers. What’s their emotional response? How engaged are they? How much personal involvement do they…, Q: What do you hope policymakers will take from the experience? A:, Depolarizing climate change and other politically charged issues is really important right now. We need to come together to solve problems in a way that’s grounded in reality and facts. And we are…, Q: President Biden hasn’t wasted any time establishing climate change as a pillar of his administration. What’s your reaction? A:, I’m relieved. I feel like we’re finally at a place where climate change is not a niche issue anymore. This is what we’ve been imagining and hoping and working towards for more than 10 years now.…, Q: How has the COVID-19 crisis intersected with climate change? A:, I personally don’t like to refer to silver linings — because there’s been so much grief and suffering and awful things that people have had to go through with the pandemic, and it seems…, Q: Former President Trump often questioned science. As a scientist yourself, how are things different now with President Biden? A:, It’s just a relief, and not just as a climate scientist. You heard from Dr. Anthony Fauci, just the sense of, OK, I don’t need to be afraid about speaking up anymore. Ultimately, reality is going to…, Q: You were at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in 2015 that resulted in the Paris Agreement — from which Trump withdrew the U.S. and which Biden has since rejoined. What are the…, There definitely are ramifications of our withdrawal. Clearly, as with all of the things that have happened recently, including the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, that’s going to be front…
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A new Graduate School of Nursing initiative is putting Doctor of Nursing Practice and PhD students at the head of the class to serve as role models for their peers. Jacqueline Mbugua, a student in…
Type: News
Sio Gene Therapies, a company focused on developing gene therapies to radically transform the lives of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, announced that the first patient with infantile Tay-…
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AMHERST, Mass. – A greater understanding of why expectant mothers choose to use cannabis during their pregnancies, and how they take the drug, are key for health care workers to be able to determine…
Type: News