Columbia’s COVID Director Steers University Through Pandemic’s Upheaval
Donna Lynne’s steady hand and collaborative approach to the crisis has earned the trust of the community.
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March 01, 2021
Donna Lynne and the COVID leadership team are developing return-to-campus plans for the fall, while remaining vigilant about the fluctuating picture of the virus and the new variants that may spread more easily than other strains. Photo by Eileen Barroso.
In early March 2020, Donna Lynne, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, had been in her position less than 18 months when a patient with COVID-19 was hospitalized in critical condition at NewYork-Presbyterian, which is affiliated with Columbia.
Statin use associated with reduction in mortality of patients with severe COVID-19
People who took statins to lower cholesterol were approximately 50% less likely to die if hospitalized for COVID-19, a study by physicians at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian has found. Our study is one of the larger studies confirming this hypothesis and the data lay the groundwork for future randomized clinical trials that are needed to confirm the benefit of statins in COVID-19, says Aakriti Gupta, MD, a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and one of the co-lead authors of the study.
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NEW YORK, NY (Feb. 26, 2021) People who took statins to lower cholesterol were approximately 50% less likely to die if hospitalized for COVID-19, a study by physicians at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian has found. Our study is one of the larger studies confirming this hypothesis and the data lay the groundwork for future randomized clinical trials that are needed to confirm the benefit of statins in COVID-19, says Aakriti Gupta, MD, a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and one of the co-lead authors of the study. If their beneficial effect bears out in randomized clinical trials, statins could potentially prove to be a low-cost and effective therapeutic strategy for COVID-19, adds co-lead author Mahesh V. Madhavan, MD, also a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
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Many older adults in the United States who take daily pills to promote cardiovascular health and prevent events like heart attacks and strokes may be taking the wrong medicine, according to a study published in February 2021 in the
For the study, researchers examined data collected between 2011 and 2018 from 11,392 adults age 50 and older about their history of cardiovascular events and any use of aspirin, a common over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), or statins, prescription drugs that lower cholesterol.
Low-dose aspirin use was more common with older age, with more than 45 percent of people 75 and older taking the drug daily to help prevent a first-time cardiovascular event like a heart attack or stroke, a strategy known as primary prevention. The trouble with this is that aspirin has been shown to help prevent heart attacks and strokes in middle-aged adults, but not in the elderly, says the lead study author, Greg Rhee, PhD, an assistant profe
As new coronavirus variants spread widely, drugmakers are scrambling to update their vaccines
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Researchers say they ve identified a new coronavirus variant in New York City that could be less susceptible to current vaccines, adding to worries that new variants could threaten progress against the pandemic. In response, drugmakers are scrambling to tweak and test their Covid-19 vaccines against new variants of the virus.
Researchers identify New York variant that could be less susceptible to current vaccines
According to the
New York Times, researchers first detected the new variant circulating in New York City, called B.1.526, among coronavirus samples collected in November 2020. Now, two new studies, which haven t yet been peer-reviewed, show the B.1.526 variant has spread widely and may be less susceptible to current Covid-19 vaccines.