Antibodies improve in quality for months after COVID-19 vaccination (Links to an external site)
For at least six months after COVID-19 vaccination, antibodies produced by immune cells become steadily more formidable and more precisely targeted against the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study of the antibody response to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Researchers unravel omicron’s secrets to better understand COVID-19 (Links to an external site)
When South African scientists announced in November that they had identified a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, they also reported two worrying details: one, that this new variant’s genome was strikingly different from that of any previous variant, containing dozens of mutations compared with the original virus that emerged in 2019; and […]
Grossman, Henderson honored by international blood association (Links to an external site)
The Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies recently honored Brenda J. Grossman, MD, and Jeffrey P. Henderson, MD, PhD, noted researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, with a 2021 President’s Award.
ASCI Names 2022 Young Scientist Awardees
The American Society for Clinical Investigation recently announced their list of 2022 Young Scientist Awardees, and Jonathan Brestoff, MD, PhD is among those being recognized. The ASCI Council Young Physician-Scientist Awards recognize physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research. With these awards, the ASCI seeks to encourage and inspire […]
Podcast: Why the omicron wave is different (Links to an external site)
A new episode of the School of Medicine podcast, “Show Me the Science,” has been posted. This episode of ‘Show Me the Science’ features, Ali Ellebedy, PhD and looks at how vaccines and prior infections provide some immunity as omicron continues to spread.
What makes an mRNA vaccine so effective against severe COVID-19? (Links to an external site)
The first two vaccines created with mRNA vaccine technology — the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines — are arguably two of the most effective COVID vaccines developed to date. In clinical trials, both were more than 90% effective at preventing symptomatic infection, easily surpassing the 50% threshold the Food and Drug Administration had set for […]
CDC initiative to combat antimicrobial resistance, infectious diseases (Links to an external site)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded $22 million to nearly 30 organizations in 50 countries for efforts to combat antimicrobial resistance and other infection-related threats to health. Part of that funding will support 11 short-term research projects aimed at identifying new solutions to help prevent antimicrobial-resistant infections and their spread, including two such […]
Kipnis named an editor of medical journal (Links to an external site)
Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Pathology & Immunology and a BJC Investigator at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named an academic editor of the Journal of Experimental Medicine, a high-impact journal that publishes papers on immunology, cancer biology, vascular biology, microbial pathogenesis, neuroscience and […]