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IMAGE: Sean Paz, co-author and a graduate student in FAU s Schmidt College of Medicine, loads COVID-19 tests in a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) machine. This laboratory apparatus is most commonly used. view more
Credit: Florida Atlantic University
To properly monitor and help curb the spread of COVID-19, several millions of diagnostic tests are required daily in just the United States alone. There is still a widespread lack of COVID-19 testing in the U.S. and many of the clinical diagnostics protocols require extensive human labor and materials that could face supply shortages and present biosafety concerns.
The current gold standard for COVID-19 diagnostic testing in the U.S., developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is quantitative PCR-based (qPCR) molecular tests that detect the presence of the viral nucleic acid. Although highly accurate, these CDC-approved tests require specialized reagents, equipment, and personnel train
Virginia Tech researchers awarded NIH grant to develop Zika virus vaccine
Flaviviruses a group of viruses transmitted by ticks or mosquitoes infect an estimated 400 million people annually with diseases like yellow fever, Dengue fever, West Nile virus, and, most recently, Zika virus.
Outbreaks of Zika virus, a flavivirus originating in Africa, were once rare and isolated events. But in 2015, it arrived in the Americas and rapidly spread to 27 countries within the span of a year.
Zika virus outbreaks have now been recorded throughout Southeast Asia, the South Pacific, South America, and Central America. To protect the health of billions of people at risk and prevent future outbreaks, a team of Virginia Tech researchers received a $2 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a safe, effective, single-dose vaccine candidate for Zika virus.
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Author: Engela Duvenage
Published: 10/12/2020
Earlier this year, surgeon Prof Karin Baatjes made headlines by successfully demonstrating that portable GoPro cameras, a favourite among outdoor enthusiasts, can be used equally well to train students in surgical procedures. It provides students with a view on how things are being done, from the exact vantage point of a surgeon.
GoPros provide high-definition videos shot at a wide-angle. It allows surgeons to easily record procedures in the theatre, or even smaller procedures that they perform in their consulting rooms. Because the camera can be mounted on a surgeon s head, the video displays everything that the surgeon sees and does.