Temple University Health System’s preparations for and treatment of patients amidst the coronavirus pandemic continue to be part of the media’s COVID-19 coverage.
- Servio H. Ramirez, PhD, Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), is the principal investigator on a new study to be published in the December print issue of the journal Neurobiology of Disease that is the first to show that the spike proteins that extrude from SARS-CoV-2 promote inflammatory responses on the endothelial cells that form the blood-brain barrier and can cause this barrier to become “leaky,” potentially disrupting the delicate neural networks within the brain. Tetyana P. Buzhdygan, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow and first author on the report, and Allison M. Andrews, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at LKSOM, is a co-author. Media outlets, including Bioengineer.org, Medical Xpress, Scienmag and News-Medical.net, highlighted the research.
- Mohamed S. Alsammak, MD, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Director of Blood Bank/Transfusion Medicine at Temple University Hospital, spoke with the Philadelphia Inquirer about convalescent plasma and about a study published in the journal BMJ about a randomized trial involving it. Dr. Alsammak was not involved in the study.
- Jamie Garfield, MD, Associate Chief Quality Officer for Temple Faculty Physicians at Temple University, Director of Quality and Improvement and Patient Safety for the Internal Medicine Residency at Temple University Hospital and Associate Professor of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, joined FOX32 in Chicago, CBS58 in Milwaukee and CBS3 (WWMT) in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, Michigan, to emphasize the importance of getting a flu shot, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Daniel A. Salerno, MD, MS, Associate Professor of Clinical Thoracic Medicine and Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University and Director of Critical Care Services in the Respiratory ICU at Temple University Hospital, participated in a panel discussion on Telemundo 62’s “Enfoque” special on COVID-19. Dr. Salerno discussed treatment for the coronavirus, as well as the clinical trials available at Temple.
- Roberto Caricchio, MD, FACR, Chief of the Section of Rheumatology, Professor of Medicine and Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM) and Director of the Temple Lupus Program at Temple University Hospital (TUH), offered insight to Healio Rheumatology about a new report published online in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases that is the first to identify criteria that can readily be used in clinical practice to potentially head off the worst of a hyper-immune attack known as cytokine storm, raising the possibility for early therapeutic intervention in COVID-19 patients. The breakthrough is the result of an extensive collaboration between researchers and clinicians across multiple departments in LKSOM and TUH. Dr. Caricchio is the report’s lead author.
- The Jewish Exponent interviewed Fredric Jaffe, DO, Professor of Clinical Thoracic Medicine and Surgery at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Director of Pulmonary Function Testing and the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program at Temple University Hospital and Medical Director of the Temple Sleep Center at Oaks, about COVID-19 long-haulers.