11th Dec 2022
A 2022 CSAR Student Award winner, Teresa Brevini, has been publishing in Nature and in the news recently. She is the lead author of a study that has shown how a drug widely-used to treat liver disease can prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection or reduce COVID-19 severity. The drug has minimal side effects, is cheap, and should protect against future variants of SARS-CoV-2. Their unique study involved 'mini-organs', animal research, donated human organs, volunteers and patients.
Teresa and her coworkers' Nature paper is at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05594-0
Her work is also discussed here:
Nature Research Briefing: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04149-7
Cambridge University website: https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/UDCA-COVID19
Cambridge University Hospital website: https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/news/drug-to-treat-liver-disease-could-prevent-covid/
New Scientist: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2349833-drug-that-targets-ace2-receptors-may-work-against-new-covid-variants/
The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/a-liver-disease-drug-could-be-repurposed-to-protect-against-covid-new-research-195876
The Daily Beast: https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-repurposed-liver-drug-may-be-our-best-bet-against-covid-19?ref=home