Calling the coronavirus the 'Chinese virus' matters – research connects the label with racist bias

Social scientists find that using geography-related names or racialized framing around the coronavirus in even one news story can trigger racist stereotypes and biases.

Brad Bushman, Professor of Communication and Rinehart Chair of Mass Communication, The Ohio State University • conversation
Feb. 18, 2022 • ~6 min

Despite its disastrous effects, COVID-19 offers some gifts to medicine – an immunology expert explains what it can teach us about autoimmune disease

COVID-19 has taken away so much. An immunology researcher describes the good it may leave behind.

Dario Ghersi, Associate Professor of Biomedical Informatics, University of Nebraska Omaha • conversation
Feb. 16, 2022 • ~8 min

Heading into the third year of the pandemic, the US blood supply is at a 10-year low

Life-saving blood is needed for everything from treating cancers and chronic conditions to helping trauma victims. But blood donations have dropped to crisis levels during the pandemic.

Anna Nagurney, Professor and Chair in Integrative Studies, UMass Amherst • conversation
Feb. 3, 2022 • ~9 min

Is the omicron variant Mother Nature’s way of vaccinating the masses and curbing the pandemic?

Some of the omicron variant’s unique properties – such as its ability to spread rapidly while causing milder COVID-19 infections – could usher in a new phase of the pandemic.

Mitzi Nagarkatti, Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Carolina • conversation
Jan. 27, 2022 • ~9 min

When will the COVID-19 pandemic end? 4 essential reads on past pandemics and what the future could bring

None of our authors can see the future, but many do have expertise that offers insights about what’s reasonable to expect.

Maggie Villiger, Senior Science + Technology Editor • conversation
Jan. 26, 2022 • ~7 min

Alpha then delta and now omicron – 6 questions answered as COVID-19 cases once again surge across the globe

People are buzzing with questions about the omicron variant and whether it could help usher in herd immunity. A team of virologists deciphers the latest findings.

Cody Warren, Postdoctoral Fellow in Virology and Immunology, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
Jan. 21, 2022 • ~11 min

The omicron variant is deepening severe staffing shortages in medical laboratories across the US

The health care system is hemorrhaging medical lab workers, in part because of COVID-19 infections and also because of burnout, low wages and better opportunities elsewhere.

Rodney E. Rohde, Regents' Professor of Clinical Laboratory Science, Texas State University • conversation
Jan. 19, 2022 • ~10 min

From delta to omicron, here's how scientists know which coronavirus variants are circulating in the US

A nationwide genomic surveillance system analyzes positive COVID-19 tests to build a picture of which variants are spreading in the population.

Lee Harrison, Professor of Epidemiology, Medicine, and Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences • conversation
Jan. 7, 2022 • ~10 min

Genomic sequencing: Here's how researchers identify omicron and other COVID-19 variants

DNA sequencing has allowed researchers to catch new COVID-19 variants hours after receiving the first positive test sample.

Crista Wadsworth, Assistant Professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology • conversation
Dec. 20, 2021 • ~8 min

How to help those who have lost loved ones to suicide cope with grief during the holidays

Nearly all suicide-loss survivors experience guilt, wondering what they could have done to prevent it. But despite decades of research, experts struggle to identify risk factors and predict suicide.

Julie Cerel, Professor of Social Work, University of Kentucky • conversation
Dec. 17, 2021 • ~5 min

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