The Diploid Duo

This episode of TDD, Nicole and Qian Hua, joined by special guest Professor Ooi Eng Eong, address more concerns the public has about the COVID19 vaccines and discuss further about the Science behind the vaccines. Prof Ooi co-directs the Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre. He is also a professor at Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the National University of Singapore. Prof Ooi also introduces an upcoming COVID19 vaccine, LUNAR-COV19, which he is co-developing with American pharmaceutical company Arcturus Therapeutics. This episode is the first part of a two-part series.

References

1.  https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/long-term-effects-covid-19-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-allergies-14270174

2.  https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/encourage-take-up-covid-19-vaccine-govt-officials-will-go-door-to-door-address-concerns-gan-kim-yong

3.  https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/09/17/u-s-public-now-divided-over-whether-to-get-covid-19-vaccine/

4.  https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/making-of-a-speedy-covid-19-vaccine-using-science-to-make-the-body-a-factory

5.  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-it-safe-to-delay-a-second-covid-vaccine-dose/

6.  https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/vaccine-inventory-management.html

7.  https://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/vaccination

8.  https://www.hsa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/default-document-library/hsa-press-release-hsa-grants-interim-authorisation-for-first-covid-19-vaccine-in-singapore-(final-web2).pdf

9.  https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00409-0

10.  https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/long-term-effects-covid-19-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-allergies-14270174

11.  https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n597

12.  https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/israeli-study-shows-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-94-effective

13.  https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n567

14.https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2021/01/covid-19-vaccine-singapore/index.html?shell

For today's 5-minute journal club, Nicole presented on a Stem Cell Translational Medicine article 'Longitudinal neuroimaging evaluation of the  corticospinal tract in patients with stroke treated with autologous bone  marrow cells' from a group at University of Texas Health Science Center. Link to the article: https://stemcellsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sctm.20-0369

This episode of TDD, Nicole and Qian Hua, joined by special guest Professor Ooi Eng Eong, address more concerns the public has about the COVID19 vaccines and discuss further about the Science behind the vaccines. Prof Ooi co-directs the Viral Research and Experimental Medicine Centre at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre. He is also a professor at Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the National University of Singapore. Prof Ooi also introduces an upcoming COVID19 vaccine, LUNAR-COV19, which he is co-developing with American pharmaceutical company Arcturus Therapeutics. This episode is the first part of a two-part series. 

References

1.  https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/long-term-effects-covid-19-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-allergies-14270174

2.  https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/encourage-take-up-covid-19-vaccine-govt-officials-will-go-door-to-door-address-concerns-gan-kim-yong

3.  https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/09/17/u-s-public-now-divided-over-whether-to-get-covid-19-vaccine/

4.  https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/making-of-a-speedy-covid-19-vaccine-using-science-to-make-the-body-a-factory

5.  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-it-safe-to-delay-a-second-covid-vaccine-dose/

6.  https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/vaccine-inventory-management.html

7.  https://www.moh.gov.sg/covid-19/vaccination

8.  https://www.hsa.gov.sg/docs/default-source/default-document-library/hsa-press-release-hsa-grants-interim-authorisation-for-first-covid-19-vaccine-in-singapore-(final-web2).pdf

9.  https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00409-0

10.  https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/long-term-effects-covid-19-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-allergies-14270174

11.  https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n597

12.  https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/israeli-study-shows-pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-94-effective

13.  https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n567

14.https://www.straitstimes.com/multimedia/graphics/2021/01/covid-19-vaccine-singapore/index.html?shell

For today's 5-minute journal club, Nicole presented on a Nature Communications article 'Transneuronal delivery of hyper-interleukin-6 enables functional recovery after severe spinal cord injury in mice' from a group at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. 

Here is the link to the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33452250/

In this episode of TDD, Nicole and Qian Hua gave a crash course on vaccinations and dived into the specifics of the different COVID19 vaccines that are starting to be distributed and administered globally. They also answered all of the pressing questions you have pertaining to the vaccines.

References:

Pfizer studies:

Phase 1/2 - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2639-4 

Phase 2/3 - https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2034577

https://www.fda.gov/media/144245/download

Moderna studies:

Prelim/ Phase 1 - https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2022483 (July 2020)

Phase 2/3 - https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389  (Dec 2020)

https://www.fda.gov/media/144434/download

Sinovac studies:

Phase 1/2 - https://www.thelancet.com/article/S1473-3099(20)30843-4/fulltext (November 2020)

AstraZeneca studies:

Phase 1 - https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31604-4/fulltext

Phase 2/3 - https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32661-1/fulltext

Other articles:

https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/types-of-vaccine

https://www.vox.com/21590994/oxford-vaccine-results-covid-19-astrazeneca-trial-pfizer-moderna

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/wondering-about-covid-19-vaccines-if-youre-pregnant-or-breastfeeding-2021010721722

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/california-nurse-tests-positive-over-a-week-after-receiving-pfizer-covid-19

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/11/more-people-are-getting-covid-19-twice-suggesting-immunity-wanes-quickly-some

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32661-1/fulltext

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.18.426984v1

https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/statement-variants-sars-cov-2-virus

https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-astrazeneca-vaccine/update-1-astrazeneca-says-its-vaccine-should-be-effective-against-new-coronavirus-variant-idUKL1N2J21YQ

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55212787

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-china-vaccine-idUSKBN2710UQ

For today's 5-Minute journal club, Nicole presented on the Cell article 'Top-Down Control of Sweet and Bitter Taste in the Mammalian Brain' from the Zuker Lab in Columbia University, U.S.A. Here is the link to the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33417862/

This episode of TDD, Nicole and Qian Hua introduces themselves, tell a story of how they met and explain what 'The Diploid Duo' is. 

Nicole's Science blog - www.two-cells.com