Advancing Medical Research
Foundations of Science
A Life-Saving Education: The Body’s Response to a Vaccine
Despite the complex technology and global scientific expertise that go into building a safe and effective vaccine, when it comes down to it, vaccination is a simple concept.
Vaccination trains the immune system to recognize a pathogen and to be prepared to help fight it if it encounters this enemy in the future. It’s like a boot camp to learn to fight an infectious disease.
As the world awaits a…
Understanding Long-Haul COVID-19
Valentine’s Day broke Jen Singer’s heart.
On February 14, 2020, Jen, a 53-year-old writer from New Jersey, took a train from Newark to Boston to watch her college-age son run track. At the time, she didn’t think much about the fact that a person behind her coughed throughout the entire ride.
COVID-19 had been identified a few months earlier in Wuhan, China, but the novel coronavirus wasn’t yet seen…
The 14-Day Quarantine: Understanding the Coronavirus Incubation Period
Sweet Science: How Insights into Fructose Metabolism Are Helping to Fight Liver Disease
If you check the labels on your favorite jarred marinara sauce, low-calorie salad dressing, or loaf of bread, you may be surprised to find that they contain added simple sugars — one of the most popular forms of which is high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sweetener used in many processed foods.
Over the past four decades, sugar has steadily crept into American diets — a trend that can be largely attributed…
Joining Forces to Share Data to Fight COVID-19
In the battle against COVID-19, big data has been critical to nearly every aspect of the global response: from tracking the spread of the virus and understanding the course of the disease to coordinating supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators in hospitals.
What Makes an RNA Vaccine Different From a Conventional Vaccine?
Researchers and scientists around the world are working to develop a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Given the urgency of the pandemic, different groups are using different methods.
Pfizer is collaborating with German biotech company BioNTech to focus on a technology called an mRNA…
AI in Drug Safety: Building the Elusive ‘Loch Ness Monster’ of Reporting Tools
Whenever a patient takes a drug and has an unexpected side effect — from minor problems like a runny nose to more serious ones that require hospitalization — pharma companies are legally required to report this information, known as an adverse event (AE), to regulatory agencies.
Within the pharmaceutical industry, AE reporting is a critical and time-consuming part of ensuring the safe and effective use of…
All Hands on Deck as Scientists Revive SARS Protease Inhibitor to Attempt to Fight COVID-19
As scientists around the globe race to find ways to treat COVID-19, the fastest approach to finding a treatment may be to repurpose existing drugs in the hopes of avoiding having to start from “square one” on the drug development pathway. There are dozens of existing drugs currently being evaluated for treating COVID-19 and its symptoms, ranging from a failed Ebola treatment to arthritis and diabetes medications.…
Racing to Develop a Potential COVID-19 Vaccine with Unprecedented Partnership
The current global scale of the COVID-19 pandemic requires nothing short of a fast-moving and nimble international effort to thwart it.
One such partnership is already underway. Pfizer has joined forces with German biotech company BioNTech to develop a potential RNA vaccine to…