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Coronavirus Research

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine that uses fundamental Penn technology receives FDA approval
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman look at a computer monitor wearing face masks.

Katalin Karikó, an adjunct professor of Neurosurgery at Penn and a senior vice president at BioNTech, and Drew Weissman, the Roberts Family Professor in Vaccine Research. (Image: Penn Medicine News)

COVID-19 mRNA vaccine that uses fundamental Penn technology receives FDA approval

Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine to prevent COVID-19 uses fundamental modified mRNA technology created by Drew Weissman and Katalin Karikó at the Perelman School of Medicine.

From Penn Medicine News

Penn researching ways to avoid side effects of key treatment for serious COVID cases
WHYY (Philadelphia)

Penn researching ways to avoid side effects of key treatment for serious COVID cases

To improve outcomes for patients hospitalized with COVID-19, researchers led by Mitchell Lazar of the Perelman School of Medicine are exploring which populations are most prone to side effects when treated with glucocorticoids, a type of steroid.

A COVID vaccine for kids
Adult wearing mask adjusts the mask of a young child

A COVID vaccine for kids

Jeff Gerber, who is heading the clinical trial of the Moderna vaccine in kids under 12 at CHOP, speaks with Penn Today about the trial and why getting children vaccinated is so essential.

Katherine Unger Baillie

There are few good COVID antivirals, but that could be changing
Scientific American

There are few good COVID antivirals, but that could be changing

Sara Cherry of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about the arduous process of developing antiviral drugs to treat COVID-19. “Most of the compounds that work in cells ultimately fail in animal studies for lots of reasons,” she said. Of the compounds that remain, just a few make it to the animal testing stage.