A research partnership between Tulane and Rice universities has developed gelatin-like patches of fake skin — called hydrogels — to assist in the study of how mosquitoes transmit deadly diseases and which repellents are most effective. The hydrogels eliminate the need for human and animal testing.

School of Medicine researchers Elizabeth Norton and Dr. Jay Kolls have developed a nasal spray vaccine to thwart antibiotic-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, a leading cause of bacterial pneumonia. They were awarded a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases contract worth up to $16 million to bring a nasal spray pneumonia vaccine to Phase 1 clinical trial.

A study led by Yixue Shao, health policy and management researcher at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, examined data from nearly 45,000 female Medicaid beneficiaries in Louisiana and found that breast cancer screening rates decreased to nearly zero in April 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates fully recovered by mid-2021.

Tulane researchers at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and the Tulane National Primate Research Center have developed a Chagas vaccine that safely protects heart function in nonhuman primates. The development is a critical step toward human clinical trials. There is currently no available vaccine for Chagas.