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.

Getting sick often may impact how quickly the brain ages and increase the risk of dementia or other forms of cognitive decline, according to a study led by Elizabeth Engler-Chiurazzi, assistant professor of neurosurgery and behavioral neuroscientist at the School of Medicine. The study found that repeated, intermittent experiences with moderate inflammation, such as that caused by the flu or a common cold, caused impaired cognition.

Researchers at the Tulane National Primate Research Center will examine how chronic oral infections affect the severity of HIV infection and the efficacy of antiretroviral therapies used to treat HIV. A $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will fund this research, which will be led by Prasun Datta, associate professor of microbiology and immunology.

Award-winning neuroscientist Matthew Dalva has been appointed as director of the Tulane Brain Institute and the university’s newest Presidential Chair. Dalva, whose research focuses on how the connections of the brain form and are changed by experience, will succeed Professor Jill Daniel, who has served as director of the institute since its inception in 2016.