University of Pittsburgh “The Pittsburgh Lens” Series: “Chasing Covid” Film and Discussion

When:
April 12, 2021 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
2021-04-12T19:00:00-04:00
2021-04-12T20:30:00-04:00
Where:
Virtual
Speaker: Dr. Peter Salk, Dr. Sylvia Owusu-Ansah and Dr. Anita McElroy
Pitt Hosts Vaccine Film Premiere April 12 Online
Panel discussion follows

“Chasing COVID,” a 30-minute film featuring the work of Pitt’s Center for Vaccine Research (CVR), will be available online at 7 p.m. on Monday, April 12, the 66th anniversary of the Salk polio vaccine being declared “safe and effective.”

Created by filmmaker and Pitt senior lecturer Carl Kurlander, this engaging program takes viewers inside the lab of CVR director Paul Duprex, PhD, who, with his team, is engaged in a global collaboration to develop a COVID-19 vaccine that encompasses what is known about the virus’ emerging variants.

For information and registration, visit https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/chasingcovid#.YG37UBNKh-V.

In addition to Duprex and Kurlander, a post-screening panel discussion will feature:

·       Peter Salk, MD, professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the Graduate School of Public Health and president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation. One of the first to get his father’s then-experimental polio vaccine, he will reflect on lessons that historic collective effort has in today’s battle against COVID-19.

·       Sylvia Owusu-Ansah, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics and of emergency medicine. One of the earliest African American physicians to be vaccinated against COVID-19, she will talk about her engagement with communities concerned about vaccine hesitancy and equitable vaccine distribution.

·       Anita McElroy, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics. In addition to collaborating with Duprex on a measles-vector vaccine candidate for COVID-19, McElroy runs the F*A*B Lab, which focuses on some of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases such as Ebola and Rift Valley fever virus.

·       The panel will be moderated by Kornelia Tancheva, director of the University of Library System.