Page 27 - Engineering Penn State Magazine Spring/Summer 2020
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SPRING/SUMMER 2020 27
RFesaetuarechs RFesaetuarechs COVID-19 COVID-19 Hui Yang associate professor in in in in the Harold and and and Inge Marcus Department of of of Industrial and and and Manufacturing Engineering and and and director of of the Penn State Center for for Health Organization Transformation will leverage data analytics and and simulation models to gain a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a better understanding of how human movement spreads the virus across geographic locations This understanding has implications for three types of crisis strategies: regional health care infrastructure regulatory measures and transparent information distribution Using machine learning and and artificial intelligence Yang will simulate transmission rates of COVID-19 in in in in in local state and and federal capacities Health policy experts in in in in HHD will weigh in in in in on on on on strategic decision making and and public interventions based on on on on on this data data The HHD team will use the data and and and simulation models to investigate how various policies and and infectious disease control can help health care systems become more more resilient and and respond more more efficiently to disruptive events like the COVID-19 pandemic n n n n Modeling coronavirus for spread mitigation
by Miranda Buckheit
In an effort to help mitigate the the disruptive effects of of the the the COVID-19 virus a a a a a a a a a team of of of of Penn State researchers
from the the College College of of of Engineering College College of of of Health Health and and Human Development (HHD) and and Penn State Health Health Milton S S Hershey Medical Center are developing a a a a a a a a a a a a novel methodology to analyze its spread and and the impacts on policy with a a a a a a a a a a a a a goal of creating better-prepared and and more-resilient health care systems Read more Rethinking
traditional
vaccine
delivery
by Jamie Oberdick
Scott Medina assistant professor of of biomedical engineering is is working on a a a a a a a a a DNA-based nanoparticle aerosol vaccine
for SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes COVID-19 illnesses However DNA-based vaccines have not been widely used as as as of of yet due to multiple issues such
as as rapid degradation of of the vaccines by tissue enzymes and limited uptake into cells Medina said the the the solution to these problems is engineering a a a a a more effective synthetic nanoparticle “We seek to develop a a a a a a a a nanoparticle that can improve the delivery
of DNA-based inhalable vaccines ” Medina said “Once deposited in in in in the the lung the the nanoparticles target and are internalized by respiratory immune cells The immune cells then process the the DNA and convert it into a a a a viral protein which in in in turn stimulates the the the immune cells to to to recognize and kill the the the virus if the the the patient were to to be infected ” If successful this could potentially mean faster development of urgently needed vaccines “By utilizing DNA encoding viral proteins instead of the inactive virus itself for vaccines we could rapidly screen and and develop therapeutic candidates ” Medina said “This could allow us to create test and and then clinically deploy vaccines much faster than traditional
development methods which is is urgently needed for quickly spreading diseases like COVID-19 ” n n n Read more 





















































































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