7. Combating COVID-19

05/04/20 • 31 min

Lab Rat Chat - Episode 07 with Dr. Mark Slifka, Professor at Oregon Health and Science University
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In this seventh episode of Lab Rat Chat, Dr. Mark Slifka from Oregon Health and Science University talks to us about his research involving developing antibody tests for detecting COVID-19.
Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube (link below)! Be sure to comment and let us know if you want to see more of this in the future! And yes, I'm recording from my basement, which is one of the only, actually, it is the only, somewhat quiet place in my house.
Video version of the episode - https://youtu.be/ArmVEja-AD0
Topics discussed in this episode:

Dr. Slifka’s journey through his education and career leading to his current position at Oregon Health and Science University.
Serological (antibody) tests for COVID-19 detection in people.
Why developing these serological tests to be highly accurate is so important to help our country, and our entire world, move past this COVID-19 pandemic.
The general role of animals in vaccine development.
Potential treatment options for those suffering from COVID-19.

Notable quotes:

“We were the first study to demonstrate that immunity can be maintained for up to 75 years after a single vaccination against smallpox.”

“A virus like measles is very very contagious, far more contagious than COVID-19, far more contagious than flu”

“If we got herd immunity in the range of 50-60%, then there’s a good chance that the herd immunity itself would reduce that reproductive number to less than one and the virus would burn itself out”

Resources & Links:

Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/)
AMP's COVID-19 Resources (https://www.amprogress.org/covid-19-resources/)
PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)
Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act)

All Lab Rat Chat episodes are edited by Audionauts: https://audionauts.pro/

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All Lab Rat Chat episodes are edited by Audionauts: https://audionauts.pro/

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Dr. Slifka’s journey through his education and career leading to his current position at Oregon Health and Science University.
Serological (antibody) tests for COVID-19 detection in people.
Why developing these serological tests to be highly accurate is so important to help our country, and our entire world, move past this COVID-19 pandemic.
The general role of animals in vaccine development.
Potential treatment options for those suffering from COVID-19.

Notable quotes:

“We were the first study to demonstrate that immunity can be maintained for up to 75 years after a single vaccination against smallpox.”

“A virus like measles is very very contagious, far more contagious than COVID-19, far more contagious than flu”

Resources & Links:

Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/)
AMP's COVID-19 Resources (https://www.amprogress.org/covid-19-resources/)
PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)
Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act)

All Lab Rat Chat episodes are edited by Audionauts: https://audionauts.pro/

Support the show

Previous Episode

6. Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Cure

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 06 with Dr. Rudolf Bohm, Associate Director and Chief Veterinary Medical Officer at the Tulane National Primate Research Center
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Jeff and Danielle talk with Dr. Rudolf Bohm from the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC). We cover a variety of topics in this one, including the basics of using monkeys in research, to TNPRC’s vaccine development work for the new coronavirus (COVID-19), to what the daily life of a monkey is like within the TNPRC.
Topics discussed in this episode:

Dr. Bohm’s journey through veterinary school and beyond, leading to his current position at the Tulane National Primate Research Center.
Why non-human primates (monkeys) are so critical to the field of biomedical research.
Amazing contributions to medicine and technology attributed to the use of monkeys in research.
TNPRC’s efforts in developing an animal model for the new coronavirus causing COVID-19 and the work to be done in discovering potential vaccine candidates for COVID-19.
The daily life of a monkey living within the TNPRC facilities and the amazing level of care and compassion that goes in to caring for them in ways you’ve never imagined.

Notable quotes:

“We developed a much better test to detect Lyme disease in both humans and in pet dogs...so that one actually did benefit pets directly which was probably the first time we’ve seen that happen, something move from primates to dogs”

Regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) - “Really there are a lot of unanswered questions, such as how is it transmitted and how long after infection is it transmitted, how much virus is excreted, and so those are the kinds of things we can answer in animal studies that you can’t answer in human studies because you don’t know when humans are infected...”

“Our approach is not just to throw a toy in a cage or try something new because we think it’s going to work. We do it in a limited fashion, and we collect data, and we assess the data because we want to do things that are going to improve their welfare...”

Resources & Links:

Tulane National Primate Research Center (https://tnprc.tulane.edu/)
Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/)
PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)

Support the show

Next Episode

8. Coronavirus, Vaccines, and High Containment Labs

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 08 with Dr. Ricardo Carrion, Jr., Professor at Texas Biomedical Research Institute
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In this eighth episode of Lab Rat Chat, Dr. Ricardo Carrion, Jr., from Texas Biomedical Research Institute, talks to us about the research they are doing down at their institute in San Antonio, TX to help combat COVID-19.

Topics discussed in this episode:

Dr. Carrion’s journey through his education and career leading to his current position at Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
The details behind various high containment laboratories that allow scientists to work safely with deadly pathogens.
The use of various animal models to help understand and study SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus behind the COVID-19 disease.

Notable quotes:

"Individuals are actually suited into a space-suit type uniform, it's a single, continuous jump-suit, if you will, that has a zipper...they are tethered to a breathing air-supply line, and they work in the BSL-4 laboratory in that suit."
“The level of collaborations seen in this outbreak, this pandemic, is greater than any other type of collaboration that I’ve seen in the 20 years that I’ve been doing science.”

“If you look at vaccine development, if you look at Ebola for instance, as an example, it was about 7-10 years to license that vaccine. So that in one year, we’re talking about possibly having an FDA licensed vaccine for COVID-19, it’s pretty remarkable”

Resources & Links: