The COVID Variants: Omicron and Beyond
A Virtual Conversation with Dr. Mark J. Mulligan, Director of the NYU Langone Vaccine Center
Thursday, January 13, at 7 PM EST on Zoom
Science Writers in New York is pleased to present Mark J. Mulligan, MD (@mjmull), director of the NYU Langone Vaccine Center. He will talk to SWINY co-chair David Levine (@dlloydlevine) about the Omicron variant, what it means to you and your family, and the future of the pandemic.
On January 3, the United States set a global record with 1 million new COVID cases reported in a single day. The highly contagious Omicron variant accounted for the majority of cases across the nation. NBC New York reports the seven-day citywide case average stands at 36,186, according to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s. Prior to Omicron’s emergence, the highest seven-day citywide case average was about 7,505 on Jan. 5, 2021, nearly five times lower.
The emergence of Omicron, a new variant (B.1.1.529) of SARS-CoV-2, was reported to the World Health Organization on November 24, 2021. It was first detected in specimens collected on November 11, 2021, in Botswana and on November 14, 2021 in South Africa.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Omicron variant spreads more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Delta variant. CDC expects that anyone with Omicron infection can spread the virus to others, even if they are vaccinated or do not have symptoms.
About Dr. Mark Mulligan
Mark J. Mulligan, MD, is the Thomas S. Murphy Professor in the Department of Medicine and professor in the Department of Microbiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and director of the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at NYU Langone Health.
Dr. Mulligan investigates the innate and adaptive immune responses to pathogens and vaccines by studying how the human body successfully reacts to vaccines and battles infections, and conversely, how infectious pathogens escape immune surveillance. The overarching goal is to translate basic scientific knowledge to support the development of effective vaccines, therapeutic products, diagnostics, and predictive markers intended for clinical use.
On March 11, 2020, the NYU Langone Vaccine Center enrolled its first patient infected with SARS-CoV-2 into an investigator-led study protocol. As part of the investigator-led research, Dr. Mulligan and his colleagues have now conducted more than 1,500 visits on participants across three of NYU Langone’s clinical sites (NYU Langone’s Manhattan campus, NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue) to study the immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 vaccination. The Mulligan Lab is currently focusing its research on providing much-needed information on those individuals’ immune responses to the virus, vaccines, and breakthrough infections.
Have a question for Dr. Mulligan you would like answered? Submit it here!
When:
Thursday, January 13
7 to 8 pm EST
Register: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bIBc4WpAR6WoDrbqexshjA