As COVID-19 continues to disrupt lives around the globe, Penn State infectious disease experts are at the forefront of research on virus evolution, transmissibility and pathogenicity, as well as outbreak prediction and rapid identification of viral strains, all with a goal of informing the development of the best possible treatment and preventive measures.
Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics
Health & Medicine, Agriculture
Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Emerging Infectious Diseases
Health & Medicine, Agriculture
Professor of Biology and Alumni Professor in the Biological Sciences
Health & Medicine, Sustainability & Environment, Social Sciences
Penn State has one of the largest clusters of infectious disease, data and policy scientists in its Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (CIDD), where researchers are readily available to help us better understand how new pandemic viruses emerge, mutate and evolve; the efficacy of vaccines and therapeutics in development; and the mathematic modeling that can measure public health outcomes and identify ways to manage outbreaks.
Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics,
Associate Professor of Biology
Contact Matthew Ferrari with questions about: larger-scale global epidemiological and human health questions.
Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Emerging Infectious Diseases,
Associate Director, Animal Diagnostic Lab,
Clinical Professor and Head of Microbiology Section
Contact Suresh Kuchipudi with questions about: viral diagnostic tools as well as transmission of disease from animals to humans.
Professor of Biology and Alumni Professor in the Biological Sciences,
Faculty member in the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics
Contact Katriona Shea with questions about: Contact Katriona with questions about: COVID-19 projection models, infectious disease dynamics, ecology, theoretical ecology, global warming, climate change and computational biology.
Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences,
Evan Pugh Professor of Biology and Entomology
Contact Andrew Read with questions about: the safety of gathering for holiday celebrations during the pandemic, various aspects of SARS-CoV-2 mutation and evolution; the likelihood that SARS-CoV-2 could evolve resistance to the COVID-19 vaccines and what may be done to prevent such an outcome; the potential ramifications of imperfect vaccination coverage due to the failure of the vaccine to prevent transmission or of patients to get their second booster shots, for example; how new strains of the virus may affect vaccination strategies and effectiveness; and antibiotic and vaccine resistance, generally.
Infectious disease physician
Contact Catharine Paules with questions about: the clinical aspects of COVID-19, preparedness for COVID-19 cases, safety and efficacy of COVID-19 therapeutics, COVID-19 vaccines, public health safety measures, and the FDA approval process.
Penn State expertise spans far beyond those that we have currently featured on the site. Call us at 814-865-7517 or contact a member of the media relations staff
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