Image Credit: Ted S. Warren, AP With all the (mis)information out there, vaccines are definitely one of the most widely misattributed subjects. Regarding the current COVID-19 pandemic, why can’t we just make a drug or compound that cures or vaccinates anyone from infection? Vaccine varieties The problem isn’t making a new drug or compound to…
Getting 4 facts straight about COVID-19.
Let’s go through some misinformation related to COVID-19. 1) COVID-19 is the disease caused by the novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. It is closely related (but unique) to the virus that caused the SARS outbreak in 2002. 2) Please, please, stop calling it a “foreign virus,” “Chinese virus,” “Wuhan virus,” etc. It is SARS-CoV-2. It is the novel coronavirus….
Please, it’s time to start taking COVID-19 seriously
Image Credit: CDC – Reuters In the past 24 hours, numerous countries have all experienced significant increases in diagnosed COVID-19 cases. Italy: ~3500 new cases Spain: ~2000 new cases Germany: ~900 new cases United States: ~1000 new cases (nearly 50% increase) Now, more than ever, we must be responsible and practice social distancing to minimize…
COVID-19 paralysis by analysis
Image Credit: New York Times (Coronavirus Map: Tracking the Spread of the Outbreak) The U.S. is approaching 2000 known cases of COVID-19, and as of Friday afternoon, 41 total deaths. Countless conferences, sports conferences, and events have either been cancelled or postponed. And this afternoon, President Trump declared a National Emergency, enacting the Stafford Act…
The implications of viral strains
Image credit: Alissa Eckert/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / AFP – Getty Images Much is unknown about the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Recently, a Chinese laboratory published preliminary results about two strains identified in patients: one ancenstral strain known as the “S” strain, and another mutated strain designated as the…
Book Review: The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston (1994)
Timely book read given the recent COVID-19 outbreak, I was first interested in reading The Hot Zone when I say the author Richard Preston speak at the annual American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene conference last November. The book documents the first ever cases of outbreaks of the Ebola family of viruses, including Marburg,…
The Leadership Compass – How to adapt your leadership capabilities
We’ve all experienced the pain of sitting through a monotonous, unproductive meeting. Or listened to a presentation that is irrelevant to the greater mission of the group. Sometimes it can be very frustrating having to communicate with certain individuals at work. “Why can’t they ever do anything right?” “What’s taking them so long to get…
Book Review: Blitzed – Drugs in the Third Reich, by Norman Ohler (2017)
Many of us know about Germany’s massively effective Blitzkrieg operational approach in the beginning of WW2. For instance, it only took the Nazis 6 weeks to force France – a vastly superior army – to its knees and surrender. In Blitzed, Norman Ohler presents a unique perspective to this strategy: the influence of methamphetamines, heroin,…
Kill or Be Killed: Mosquito Edition
Mosquitoes have existed on planet earth for nearly 100 million years, and they have tremendously impacted the world’s development throughout time. Everyone remembers the iconic Richard Attenborough playing John Hammond in Jurassic Park, with his signature cane holding on to a mosquito immortalized in amber from the Jurassic era. Now, in the movie, researchers were…
Book Review: God & Government, by Charles Colson (2007)
Charles Colson, special counsel to President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, born-again evangelical Christian writes “God & Government” from 2007, a follow-up to his 1987 book “Kingdoms in Conflict.” I was intrigued by this book ever since 2017, when I heard an NPR interview with Colson discussing his Prison Fellowship, founded by him in…