In the last two months, COVID-19 has drawn the public’s attention to zoonotic diseases in unprecedented—and often profoundly misleading—ways. The Chinese origins of SARS-CoV-2 have (re)awakened powerful cultural stereotypes that are now routinely invoked to explain the virus’s transmission to humans. In reality, the lives of bats, viruses, and humans are intertwined in far more complex and profound ways, as bat virologist Dorothy Tovar explains in this week’s episode. Dorothy tells Jocelyn and Bradley why bats’ unique immune systems make them ideal reservoirs for viruses, and why bat behavior and viral evolution combine to create a perfect storm for novel viruses to emerge. She discusses her research at the intersection of immunology and ecology and how she is working to understand the environmental factors that underlie zoonotic disease dynamics. The friends also discuss Dorothy’s science journey, and how a fateful parasitic encounter during a childhood visit to Haiti sparked a lifelong passion for science and public health.

You can find Dorothy on Instagram and Linktree @iamdorothytovar, and you can learn more about her amazing work at the links below!

https://woods.stanford.edu/people/dorothy-tovar
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/04/factors-allow-viruses-infect-humans-coronavirus/
GoldieBlox Q&A for kids: https://youtu.be/2xsOerD5cd0
Reddit Q&A: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/ezstsw/science_discussion_series_the_novel_coronavirus/
Association of Science & Technology Centers Q&A: https://www.astc.org/astc-dimensions/qa-with-dorothy-tovar/



Stanford Black Bioscience Organization: https://sbbo.sites.stanford.edu/

The IF/THEN initiative:
https://www.ifthenshecan.org/
https://twitter.com/IfThenSheCan

More on bats, viruses, and humans:

“How China’s ‘Bat Woman’ Hunted Down Viruses from SARS to the New Coronavirus,” Scientific American: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-chinas-bat-woman-hunted-down-viruses-from-sars-to-the-new-coronavirus1

“The Origins of SARS-CoV-2,” Benhur Lee Lab at Mount Sinai School of Medicine:
Part 1: https://leelabvirus.host/covid19/origins-part1
Part 2: https://leelabvirus.host/covid19/origins-part2
Part 3: https://leelabvirus.host/covid19/origins-part3

“The Coronavirus Is Mutating. What Does That Mean for a Vaccine?”, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/16/opinion/coronavirus-mutations-vaccine-covid.html

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