Since 2016, Bernard Thurman has undergone traditional treatments, experimental therapies and surgeries to counter the cancer within him, but nothing has eradicated the disease. Earlier this year, the oncologists in Los Angeles who were treating him referred Thurman to a personalized cancer therapy trial being developed at Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health.
“Truly, I am running out of options as far as treatment goes,” said Thurman, whose cancer developed in his tonsils and has since spread to his lungs.
On Dec. 8, Thurman became the first patient to undergo an investigational cell therapy that uses a patient’s own, lab-grown immune cells, specifically tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, or TIL, in an effort to destroy his cancer.
Randy Vazquez/Bay Area News Group/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
In the United States, there have been 17 million reported cases of Covid-19 about 5 percent of the population. Millions more have been infected and either did not get tested or didn’t have symptoms to begin with.
Vaccines are slowly rolling out first to front-line health care and high-risk people, and next, likely to other essential workers, followed by people ages 65 and older and those with preexisting conditions.
But it’s reasonable to ask, given that there are well over 100 million people in these groups and not nearly enough vaccine supply for them right away: Should people who’ve already had Covid-19 be vaccinated too?
RV Roger Revelle sent back to sea after extensive refit
Research vessel Roger Revelle, one of the largest ships in the U.S. Academic Research Fleet, is back to sea after a $60 million refit involving upgrades from top to bottom, bow to stern. The refit will extend the service life by 15 to 20 years with improvements to systems crucial to the vessel’s operations, scientific capabilities, habitability and environmental footprint, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
The ship is owned by the Office of Naval Research and has been operated by Scripps Oceanography since 1996. The vessel is considered important to U.S. oceanographic research due to its range, payload, duration and ability to safely conduct scientific operations in remote areas around the globe.
Epitope megapools could help determine role T cell immunity plays in COVID-19 news-medical.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from news-medical.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
December 14, 2020
Researchers from the IU School of Public Health-Bloomington will lead a nationwide study on COVID-19 infection and reinfection, and the potential for long-term immunity. Photo by James Brosher, Indiana University
Backed by a philanthropic investment of $12.5 million from Jack Dorsey’s #StartSmall Initiative and the Chase and Stephanie Coleman Foundation, the Aegis Study will run through 2021 and will include 2,100 participants from multiple U.S. locations, likely including Chicago, New York, Bloomington and Indianapolis.
“Indiana University is extremely grateful for the generous financial support for and opportunity to lead this landmark public health study,” IU President Michael A. McRobbie said. “Through this study, leading public health researchers from IU and around the country will seek to capture critical information about the evolution of COVID-19 and answer the key question of how long the immune system can protect individuals f