Nov 16, 2021
Dear colleagues,
We appreciate your ongoing support of the UCI Infectious Disease Science Initiative (IDSI) and we look forward to collaborating this academic year. Please see below highlights from the past few months from IDSI and affiliated faculty. Wishing you a great fall quarter.
Regards,
Sanghyuk ShinDirector, Infectious Disease Science Initiative
Event Recap Colliding Epidemics: Trends in Major Infectious Diseases in the Time of COVID-19
This virtual symposium included presentations by leading experts on the global trends and dynamics of major infectious diseases during the COVID pandemic, including HIV, HCV, tuberculosis, and influenza.
View a recording of the event.
Speakers included:
Tetyana Vasylyeva, D.Phil, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Health, University of California, San Diego
Title: HIV and Hepatitis C Virus in internally-displaced people who inject drugs in the presence of COVID-19 challenges in Ukraine
Finn McQuaid, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Title: Trends in tuberculosis incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic
Shweta Bansal, Ph.D., Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of Biology, Georgetown University
Title: Double trouble? When a pandemic and seasonal respiratory virus collide
IDSI Faculty Advisory Board Publications and Press
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Funds Multi-UC Bacteriophage Research Project
Katrine Whiteson, IDSI faculty advisory board member
Katrine Whiteson, UCI professor of molecular biology and biochemistry, and David Pride, associate professor of pathology at UC San Diego, have been awarded a research grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The two-year grant will help support their work to develop viruses that infect Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that can infect people with cystic fibrosis.
RNA Viromics of Southern California Wastewater and Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Single Nucleotide Variants
Wastewater-based epidemiology has garnered substantial interest during the COVID-19 pandemic to track disease burden through analyses of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, tracking SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater has been an important tool for understanding the spread of the virus.
Assessment of the Current Threats Posed by COVID-19 Variants and Discussion on the Implementation of Necessary Infrastructures in the Post-COVID Era
Michele Bratcher Goodwin, Chancellor’s Professor of Law, UCI School of Law
Professor Goodwin was a guest on TBS eFM This Morning where she discussed the COVID-19 pandemic, public health, vaccine mandates and vaccine passports.
Civil Liberties in a Pandemic: The Lessons of History
Throughout American history, whenever there has been a crisis, the response has been a deprivation of rights. Today, the United States is in the midst of the worst health crisis in over a century. As of this writing, over 500,000 people have died from COVID-19. The pandemic reveals underlying institutional and infrastructural problems in society. The authors argue, based on history, there is every reason to fear that the pandemic could be used as justification for a massive deprivation of rights and abuses.
Semi-parametric Modeling of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Orange County using Tests, Cases, Deaths and Seroprevalence Data
Vladimir Minin, IDSI Co-Director, Department of Statistics
Mechanistic modeling of SARS-CoV-2 transmission dynamics and frequently estimating model parameters using streaming surveillance data are important components of the pandemic response toolbox. However, transmission model parameter estimation can be imprecise, and sometimes even impossible, because surveillance data are noisy and not informative about all aspects of the mechanistic model.
COVID-19 Trends by UCI
UCI Offers Data on Numbers of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in Orange County and all of California
This is an effort to provide timely and understandable COVID-19 data visualizations to the public in Orange County, California. The effort is coordinated by the UCI COVID Awareness Group, which consists of students and faculty from the following units: UCI Department of Statistics, UCI Program in Public Health, UCI Center for Virus Research, and UCI Infectious Disease Science Initiative.
Why You Should Get The Flu Shot During ‘Unpredictable’ Flu Season
Fall is here and that means flu season is right around the corner. It is never a welcome reminder, but this year it is more important to make sure you get a flu shot before the season takes off.
Read more on why the flu shot is so important this year.