Fifth COVID-19 Symposium Addresses "What Have We Learned? How Can We Use What We Have Learned?"
Nearly six months after New York Medical College (NYMC) and the Touro College and University System (TCUS) presented its first COVID-19 symposium, faculty experts shared "What Have We Learned? How Can We Use What We Have Learned?," the fifth in the series, via a webinar on August 18.
“We have learned through this pandemic of the fearsome mortality and morbidity consequences and of the devastating economic consequences. We hope by conveying this information we will help those caring for patients with COVID-19 and those managing their own institution’s public health response,” said Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer, in his introductory remarks.
“COVID has been a devastating force – economically, socially and practically— to our lives," said Alan Kadish, M.D., president. “Unlike other instances where we’ve had the luxury of working out extensive basic sciences, before we begin therapeutics or clinical trials, the devastation of COVID has led us to conduct therapeutic trials and development of a vaccine at breakneck speed without waiting for the basic science and biology to be fully understood.”
The symposium covered an array of topics including: the effect of the pandemic on children by Tami Hendriksz, D.O., FACOP, FAAP, professor and associate dean of academic affairs, Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine; potential influences from the COCCI syndemic on the COVID-19 pandemic by Michael Clearfield, D.O. dean, Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine; vaccine development by Kathleen DiCaprio, Ph.D., assistant professor of medical microbiology and immunology, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine; the role of dexamethasone in COVID-19 patients by Tachun Wang, M.B, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology, Department of Basic Biomedical Sciences, Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine; and the retraction of major papers concerning COVID-19 by Fredrick Z. Bierman, M.D., professor of pediatrics, NYMC and director of graduate medical education, Westchester Medical Center Health Network.
