WATCH: “As we learn one thing about COVID-19, we have two new questions”

ICYMI: Listen in on a fascinating conversation between the McMaster researcher whose lab isolated the virus and a leading New York Times journalist.

May 8, 2020

Expert Featured In This Story

Karen Mossman
Karen Mossman

Professor

See Profile

The MacTalks series kicked off with Behind the Lab Door, which goes inside the leading-edge research that’s making a difference in the fight against COVID-19.

The inaugural talk featured Karen Mossman, a molecular virologist and McMaster’s acting vice-president, research, and Gretchen Reynolds, a columnist with the New York Times and the first journalist-in-residence for McMaster’s Faculty of Science.

Earlier this year, Mossman and her research team, along with partners at Sunnybrook and the University of Toronto, isolated the new coronavirus, which was an important first step in allowing researchers to develop and test potential treatments and vaccines.

In their conversation, Mossman and Reynolds talked about everything from the urgent race to isolate the virus, what’s standing in the way of a vaccine and how the virus is changing the way scientists work.

Marek Smieja smiles while standing outside on a bright day.

McMaster scientist Marek Smieja receives prestigious national award for infectious disease research 

The John G. FitzGerald Award recognizes Smieja for advancing the diagnosis and epidemiology of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, including those caused by SARS-CoV-2, influenza, rhinovirus, and C. difficile.
Toronto skyline enveloped in yellowish smog.

Everyday air pollution linked to poorer brain function, study finds

New research suggests that fine particles from traffic, industry and wildfire smoke are linked to worse cognitive function.
Smiling Sheila Singh wearing a McMaster lab coat, looking over lab equipment.

New McMaster-made drug candidate shows promise as a brain cancer treatment 

The drug candidate can eliminate deadly and aggressive glioblastoma tumours, which typically resist standard treatments and often recur rapidly.