Organizer Insights on Viral Immunity & COVID-19

In this exclusive KSQA interview, conference organizers Dr. Paul Thomas and Dr. Katherine Kedzierska, discuss their vision for the upcoming meeting on Viral Immunity: Basic Mechanisms and Therapeutic Applications, as well as emerging research on COVID-19, with Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research, Dr. David Woodland. 

Their conversation spans topics ranging from host susceptibility to COVID-19, to pathology behind severe cases, immune evasion strategies of the virus, causes of breakthrough infections, novel therapeutic strategies, and projections about how the pandemic will unfold over time.

• Host susceptibility to COVID-19: Interferon defects and autoimmunity as risk factors for severe cases
• COVID-19 Disease Pathology: Cytokine ‘storm’ impact on course of infection and disease severity
• Immune Evasion Strategies: Emerging data on SARS-CoV2 mutation rates and mechanisms of evasion
• Breakthrough Infections: Comparison to flu, and the challenges of inducing mucosal immunity
• Novel Treatment Strategies: Development of vaccines, antibodies and host-targeted drugs
• Tools and Technologies:  Big data integration for monitoring the pandemic and viral evolution
• Epidemiology of Coronaviruses:  Historical significance of other coronaviruses as remnants of past pandemics
• Future of the Pandemic:  Inevitable transition from pandemic to endemic status and decline is severe disease cases

Watch the Short Preview Video

Join field leaders in viral immunity in Keystone, or via via virtual access in June!

Watch the full interview here