It is unusual to be working as a virus researcher when a viral pandemic strikes. Like everyone else, we are social distancing and I’ve worked from home for the last two months. But we’ve been busy in the lab working on COVID-19. We have been working on high-throughput, parallel nucleic acid testing, sequencing viral genomes from Wisconsin, and developing nonhuman primate models to test vaccines. Data from our studies is available at http://openresearch.labkey.com. We’ve also been advocating for other groups to share data openly to accelerate the global response. I’ve been active doing community and media outreach. Some selected media coverage:
- The Search for a Covid-19 Research Animal Model, WIRED, May 11, 2020
- Researchers hypothesize that a highly contagious strain of the coronavirus is spreading, but other experts remain skeptical, Washington Post, May 5, 2020
- Genetic sequencing supports Wisconsin stay-at-home order, shows clusters of coronavirus in Madison and Milwaukee, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 5, 2020
- Make face masks as normal as condoms to slow viral spread, researcher urges, The Spokesman Review, May 3, 2020
- Trump speculates that China released virus in lab ‘mistake’, Associated Press, April 30, 2020
- The Next Wave: COVID-19 could come back “with a vengeance” this fall, Metro Weekly, April 23, 2020
- Are Face Masks the New Condoms?, The New York Times, April 18, 2020
- Interview: Professor Dave O’Connor chats about Discovery’s new show Pandemic: COVID-19, Indian Express, April 17, 2020
- Public statement for collaboration on COVID-19 vaccine development, World Health Organization, April 16, 2020
- Climate change affects everything — even the coronavirus, Washington Post, April 15, 2020
- Mice, hamsters, ferrets, monkeys. Which lab animals can help defeat the new coronavirus?, Science, April 13, 2020
- How monkeys, ferrets, and horses are helping scientists fight Covid-19, Quartz, April 13, 2020
- Cats are far more susceptible to new coronavirus than dogs are, but people shouldn’t be ‘fearful’ of their pets, researchers say, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 9, 2020
- Tests of potential coronavirus vaccine spur growth of virus-fighting antibodies, USA Today, April 2, 2020
- PANDEMIC: COVID-19, Discovery Channel, March 25, 2020
- These Lab Animals Will Help Fight Coronavirus, The New York Times, March 14, 2020
- Labs rush to study coronavirus in transgenic animals — some are in short supply, Nature, March 9, 2020
- Wisconsin labs on the forefront of research into understanding, slowing coronavirus outbreak, WKOW 27 Madison, March 5, 2020
- Coronavirus Diaries: Inside an Emergency Coronavirus Scientist Slack Channel, Slate, March 4, 2020
- ‘A completely new culture of doing research.’ Coronavirus outbreak changes how scientists communicate, Science, February 26, 2020
- UW-Madison researchers to study new coronavirus, WMTV 15 Madison, February 11, 2020
- UW–Madison researchers lead efforts to understand, thwart new coronavirus, University of Wisconsin-Madison News, February 11, 2020
As of now, I’m not planning on taking new graduate students in fall, 2020. The PhD student population in the lab has grown since returning from Australia. There are now five PhD students in the lab, excluding Dr. Amelia Haj who successfully defended her PhD thesis last week!