Topic: research
Transmission study
Dr. Richard Oberhelman and others at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine have partnered with local healthcare providers for a COVID-19 study of patients and healthcare workers in New Orleans as part of a larger Centers for Disease Control and Prevention effort to better understand the virus. The study will provide estimates of how many people in a given area have COVID-19 and overall infection rates over time. It will also examine geographic, demographic and clinical trends.HTTPS://tulane.it/transmission-study
HOW THE VIRUS WORKS
A team of researchers is studying how the coronavirus works and where and when it is shed through a $700,000 grant by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What researchers find could help explain why COVID-19 is causing higher death rates among Black and Hispanic residents of New Orleans. Assistant Professor of Medicine Dr. Dahlene Fusco, who is part of the team, said researchers want to learn whether specific factors related to the virus or something within the host contribute to the higher fatality rate.https://tulane.it/how-the-virus-works
CANCER PATIENTS
Tulane has joined other institutions across the globe in a trial of a drug, TL-895, to treat severe COVID-19 in hospitalized cancer patients. Dr. Nakhle Saba, associate professor of clinical medicine at the School of Medicine, is principal investigator of the trial. Saba said that data show 40% of COVID-19 patients with cancer required hospitalization, 20% developed severe respiratory illness, and 12% died within 30 days.https://tulane.it/cancer-patients
Latin American Response
Nora Lustig, the Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics and director of the Commitment to Equity Institute at Tulane, organized networks of economists and researchers to examine Latin American countries’ COVID-19 situation and policy responses. One group’s work resulted in a partnership with the United Nations Development Program that focused on actionable items for governments, individuals and organizations to support countries’ populations.https://tulane.it/latin-american-response
PANIC DISORDER
Tulane Brain Institute faculty member and Assistant Professor of Psychology Jonathan Fadok is conducting research on panic disorder — one of the most common mental disorders in the United States, with nearly 5 percent of the population suffering attacks that cause extreme disruption in their daily lives. Fadok is working on the identification of neurobiological mechanisms through which the brain reacts to fearful stimuli. The research, funded by a $2.24 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, could provide new insights into post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder.https://tulane.it/panic-disorder
The Virus and Vaccines
During the novel coronavirus global pandemic, the Tulane National Primate Research center goes all out to combat COVID-19, an infectious disease like no other.
Health Equity
As the COVID-19 crisis engulfs the Black community, Thomas LaVeist, dean of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, explains why — and leads the way to changing the unjust health gap.
Climate Risk Management
Professor Jesse M. Keenan has a leading role in the first climate change publication by a U.S. financial regulator.
Curator of Jazz
Melissa A. Weber, also known as DJ Soul Sister, has been named curator of the Hogan Jazz Archive.
Turning Point
Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, vice president for research, is leading Tulane toward a new era of impactful research that makes lives better.