Other Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons^™

Characterization Of Sars-Cov-2 Replication And Transcription Complexes Via Structural And Evolutionary Approaches, Amelie Ghirardo, Ben Shabatian, Avishai Aghelian, Kyle Tau, Eleonora Gianti

Undergraduate Research

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused around 700M cases and over 7M COVID-19-related deaths recorded worldwide (World Health Organization, March 2025). Aiming to effectively combat this and other disease-causing Coronaviruses (CoV), unprecedented research efforts led to the development of new vaccines and antiviral therapies. Due to emergence of variants of concern (VOCs) with increased transmissibility, immune evasion from vaccination, and potential to resist the available treatments, SARS-CoV-2 continues to represent a major threat to global health. Hence, there is a pressing need to discover new antivirals with broad-spectrum efficacy against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and related CoVs. This project …

A One Health Approach To Enhancing Sars-Cov-2 Surveillance, Lauren C. Cybulska

Dissertations and Theses

Background

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in humans, can also infect domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and cats (Felis catus). Susceptibility and viral transmissibility in these species are concerns for public health due to the spillover risk to humans or other animals. This dissertation uses a One Health framework to explore key issues on this topic. We aim to identify gaps in understanding of SARS-CoV-2 in companion animals and investigate novel surveillance methods through human, animal, and environmental health perspectives.

Methods

Paper 1 provides an in-depth exploration of …

Sars-Cov-2 Serostatus And Covid-19 Illness Characteristics By Variant Time Period In Non-Hospitalized Children And Adolescents, Sarah E Messiah, Michael D Swartz, Rhiana A Abbas, Yashar Talebi, Harold W Kohl, Melissa Valerio-Shewmaker, Stacia M Desantis, Ashraf Yaseen, Steven H Kelder, Jessica A Ross, Lindsay N Padilla, Michael O Gonzalez, Leqing Wu, David Lakey, Jennifer A Shuford, Stephen J Pont, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: to describe COVID-19 illness characteristics, risk factors, and SARS-CoV-2 serostatus by variant time period in a large community-based pediatric sample.

DESIGN: Data were collected prospectively over four timepoints between October 2020 and November 2022 from a population-based cohort ages 5 to 19 years old.

SETTING: State of Texas, USA.

PARTICIPANTS: Participants ages 5 to 19 years were recruited from large pediatric healthcare systems, Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers, urban and rural clinical practices, health insurance providers, and a social media campaign.

EXPOSURE: SARS-CoV-2 infection.

MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASURE(S): SARS-CoV-2 antibody status was assessed by the Roche Elecsys

RESULTS: Over half …

Antibody Duration After Infection From Sars-Cov-2 In The Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response Survey, Michael D Swartz, Stacia M Desantis, Ashraf Yaseen, Frances A Brito, Melissa A Valerio-Shewmaker, Sarah E Messiah, Luis G Leon-Novelo, Harold W Kohl, Cesar L Pinzon-Gomez, Tianyao Hao, Shiming Zhang, Yashar Talebi, Joy Yoo, Jessica R Ross, Michael O Gonzalez, Leqing Wu, Steven H Kelder, Mark Silberman, Samantha Tuzo, Stephen J Pont, Jennifer A Shuford, David Lakey, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Understanding the duration of antibodies to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus that causes COVID-19 is important to controlling the current pandemic. Participants from the Texas Coronavirus Antibody Response Survey (Texas CARES) with at least 1 nucleocapsid protein antibody test were selected for a longitudinal analysis of antibody duration. A linear mixed model was fit to data from participants (n = 4553) with 1 to 3 antibody tests over 11 months (1 October 2020 to 16 September 2021), and models fit showed that expected antibody response after COVID-19 infection robustly increases for 100 days postinfection, and predicts …

The Influence Of Political Party Affiliation And Park Accessibility On Covid-19 Case Incidence, Sascha Wolf-Sorokin

CMC Senior Theses

This paper examines the joint effect of political party affiliation and the urban landscape, as measured by access to parks, on case rates during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The 2016 and 2020 U.S. Presidential Election returns are used as a proxy for a county’s political party affiliation prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A county population’s spatial relationship to its parks encapsulates the green open space within an urban environment. The data set controls for features of the built environment, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics (race, gender, income, education), COVID-19 government regulations, and presidential election returns. Using …

Methodology To Estimate Natural- And Vaccine-Induced Antibodies To Sars-Cov-2 In A Large Geographic Region, Stacia M Desantis, Luis G León-Novelo, Michael D Swartz, Ashraf S Yaseen, Melissa A Valerio-Shewmaker, Yashar Talebi, Frances A Brito, Jessica A Ross, Harold W Kohl, Sarah E Messiah, Steve H Kelder, Leqing Wu, Shiming Zhang, Kimberly A Aguillard, Michael O Gonzalez, Onyinye S Omega-Njemnob, David Lakey, Jennifer A Shuford, Stephen Pont, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Accurate estimates of natural and/or vaccine-induced antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 are difficult to obtain. Although model-based estimates of seroprevalence have been proposed, they require inputting unknown parameters including viral reproduction number, longevity of immune response, and other dynamic factors. In contrast to a model-based approach, the current study presents a data-driven detailed statistical procedure for estimating total seroprevalence (defined as antibodies from natural infection or from full vaccination) in a region using prospectively collected serological data and state-level vaccination data. Specifically, we conducted a longitudinal statewide serological survey with 88,605 participants 5 years or older with 3 prospective blood draws beginning …

A General Pathological Outlook Of Covid-19, Shadman Shaikh

Honor’s College Freeman Research Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic has been expressed as one of the world’s most fatal pandemics in recent human history, and with good reason. At the time of this writing, over 125 million global cases have been confirmed, with a death toll rate sitting at 2.5 million. From the moment the pandemic was announced globally, the international scientific community sought out to analyze more about the virus in the hopes to find a cure. It should be imperative to analyze this virus in all aspects, including recent treatment efforts. Doing so will allow us to not only understand as to how this …

Flattening The Curve: The Effects Of Intervention Strategies During Covid-19, Kelly A. Reagan, Rachel J. Pryor, Gonzalo M. Bearman, David M. Chan

Spora: A Journal of Biomathematics

COVID-19 has plagued countries worldwide due to its infectious nature. Social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) are two main strategies employed to prevent its spread. A SIR model with a time-dependent transmission rate is implemented to examine the effect of social distancing and PPE use in hospitals. These strategies’ effect on the size and timing of the peak number of infectious individuals are examined as well as the total number of individuals infected by the epidemic. The effect on the epidemic of when social distancing is relaxed is also examined. Overall, social distancing was shown to …

Coronavirus Food Assistance Program For Livestock Producers, Bradley Lubben

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

United States Congress and the President have approved multiple phases of COVID-19 assistance to date including the $2.3 trillion CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act passed in March that provides financial support for agricultural producers as a small part of the overall relief.

While agricultural producers and agribusinesses are eligible for two programs administered through the Small Business Administration, including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs), the primary support for agriculture is coming from USDA through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). The CARES Act provided $9.5 billion directly to the Secretary of …

Grain Marketing 2020: Survival And Covid-19, Robert Tigner, Jessica J. Groskopf

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

Let’s state the obvious: this isn’t a typical year and we all know it. For farmers, it is a survival year. Why? And what might be done to make it through to the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic? This article will discuss how to build a marketing strategy to assure that the farm continues to the next crop year.

Conclusion

This year is shaping up to be a survival year for crop producers. Crop producers need to know at what crop price they will recapture all of the cash they will spend this year. Implementing a marketing …

Has Covid-19 Impacted Price-Weight Relationships And Value Of Gain?, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

In the beginning of COVID-19, much of the attention was focused on managing the redirection of meat product from food service to retail stores. This past month has keenly focused on packing plant closures due to COVID-19 cases among workers and how to manage the supply of fat cattle already ready for slaughter. Fat cattle available for slaughter either cannot get bids or bids are significantly below breakeven prices leaving feedlots with decisions to be made about marketing and placements. The April 2020 Cattle on Feed report (https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/m326m174z) revealed March placement decisions. Placements were down about …

Pre Covid-19 Market Conditions Persist & The Stocker Industry Can Dampen The Damage, Elliott James Dennis

Extension Farm and Ranch Management News

First paragraph:

The effects of COVID-19 on the livestock market are well known and felt. Some effects include depressed futures and cash prices, unusual basis patterns, decreased packer bids and sale barn volume, packing plant closures, consumer hording of meat products, and shifting food service products for retail consumption. All these effects occurred as market participants grappled with everchanging government and industry policy which reduced consumer demand and resulted in bottlenecks and increasing supply gluts upstream. Simultaneously reducing demand and increasing supply always cause prices to plummet, and in the case of COVID-19 very rapidly. Some segments of the market …

Why The Government Shouldn't Pay People To Get Vaccinated Against Covid-19, Ana Santos Rutschman

All Faculty Scholarship

As several pharmaceutical companies approach the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking authorization to bring COVID-19 vaccines to market, concerns about vaccine mistrust cloud the prospects of imminent vaccination efforts across the globe. These concerns have prompted some commentators to suggest that governments may nudge vaccine uptake by paying people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. This post argues that, even if potentially viable, this idea is undesirable against the backdrop of a pandemic marked by the intertwined phenomena of health misinformation and mistrust in public health authorities. Even beyond the context of COVID-19, paying for vaccination is likely to remain …