Our differences are what make us unique. Different worldviews, different experiences, and even different hair colors can lead to a more diverse and interesting world. But just as our many differences impact our societies, biological differences in how susceptible individuals are to a pathogen can also impact a global process: disease outbreaks.

Researchers at Virginia Tech and three other institutions — the University of Memphis, University of San Diego, and University of Connecticut — are studying this issue and how prior exposure to pathogens can affect the level of variation in a population. 

The four-year study comes as part of a $1.75 million grant funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences within a multi-agency program, the Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (EEID). 

The project will involve Virginia Tech researchers Dana Hawley, Kate Langwig, and Lauren Childs, all affiliated faculty members of the Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens housed in the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. Hawley and Langwig are also affiliated faculty members of the Global Change Center.  READ MORE>>

A new class at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine will use a multidisciplinary approach to educate graduate students about the novel coronavirus and the pandemic. This fall, Kylene Kehn-Hall, professor of virology in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, is leading the special studies course titled “COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2).”

The class was designed as a part of the Center for Emerging, Zoonotic and Arthropod-borne Pathogens (CeZAP), an interdisciplinary network of Virginia Tech scholars that trains graduate students through the Interdisciplinary Graduate Education Program in Infectious Disease. The class, however, is open to all Virginia Tech graduate students, regardless of their course of study.

“Over the past year and a half, people who don’t classically study virology have really delved in, taking what they know in other disciplines to help with the pandemic. That’s very important because we can’t look at just the virus; we have to look at it from many different viewpoints,” said Kehn-Hall. “[This class] goes beyond your traditional science course to try to understand the pandemic and the pathogen.”

Kehn-Hall’s goal is that students not only will gain a greater understanding of COVID-19, but also will be better equipped to explain it to others. “As scientists, we have a responsibility to make sure that the public trusts the scientific process,” she said.  READ MORE>>