Over 175 million cases and nearing 4 million deaths due to COVID, and economic devastation on a global scale, the global scientific community will come together for the sixth meeting in the COVID-19/SARS CoV2 Rapid Research Reports series, bringing together expert scientists on the forefront of COVID research into viral origins & variation, virus biology, host response, and antivirals & vaccines. Previous meetings in the series were held in June, July, August and November 2020 & January 2021. The series is designed to stimulate ideas and collaborations among scientists with the goal of hastening a solution to vanquish this worldwide disease.
Sessions & Confirmed Speakers (COVID-R3-#6) Times posted in US Eastern Daylight Time
Session I: Host-virus Interactions/Structure
Wednesday, July 7 - 9:30 am EDT
Co-Chairs: Brenda Hogue, Arizona State University & Leemor Joshua-Tor, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Richard Neher, University of Basel, Switzerland - Tracking and Predicting SARS-CoV-2 Variants with Nextstrain
Darren Martin, University of Cape Town, South Africa - The Emergence and Ongoing Convergent Evolution of the N501Y Lineages Coincides with a Major Global Shift in the SARS-CoV-2 Selective Landscape
Sylvie van der Werf, Institut Pasteur, France - SARS-CoV-2 Evolution in Humans Extends Host Range to Mice
Matthew Parker, The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom - Transcriptomic Changes in SARS-CoV-2 Variants Detected by Large Scale Subgenomic RNA Analysis in Clinical Samples
Greg Towers, University College London, United Kingdom - Evolution of Enhanced Innate Immune Evasion by the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7 UK Variant
Robert Martienssen, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory - Circadian Immunity at Sunrise Underlies the Seasonality of Flu and COVID-19
Session II: Coronavirus Biology
Wednesday, July 7 - 2:00 pm EDT
Co-Chairs: Linda Saif, The Ohio State University & Yize Li, Arizona State University
Jan Felix Drexler, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany - Evolutionary Origins of Human Coronaviruses
Linda J. Saif, The Ohio State University - Origin and Avian-Mammalian Interspecies Transmission of Porcine Deltacoronavirus: A Spillover Scenario Analogous to Influenza A Virus?
Stacey Schultz-Cherry, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Impact of Obesity on Influenza and SARS-CoV-2
Martin Beer, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Germany - SARS-CoV-2 VOC Characterization in Animal Models
Edward Kastenhuber, Weill Cornell Medical College - Coagulation Factors & Their Effects on Viral Entry
Mario Santiago, University of Colorado, Denver - Interferon Resistance of Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants
Session III: Pathogenesis & The Immune Response
Thursday, July 8 - 9:30 am EDT
Co-Chairs: Adrian Hayday, King's College London, UK & Tanya Miura, University of Idaho
José Ordovas-Montañes, Boston Children's Hospital - Single-Cell Biology of Barrier Tissues and COVID-19
Peter P. Cherepanov, Francis Crick Institute - Interaction of SARS CoV-2 Spike with Tetrapyrroles
Nadia R. Roan, J. David Gladstone Institutes, UCSF - T Cell Immunity to SARS-CoV-2
Abhishek Das, Kings College London - Harnessing Immune Signatures to Anticipate Hospital Outcome in COVID-19
Avindra Nath, NINDS, NIH - Long-haul COVID
Session IV: Vaccines/Antivirals
Thursday, July 8 - 2:00 pm EDT
Co-Chairs: Volker Thiel, University of Bern, Switzerland & Kellie Jurado, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine
Lilac Tene, Maccabi Research and Innovation Center, Israel -
Israel vaccine experience
Alexandra Walls, University of Washington - Elicitation of Broadly Protective Sarbecovirus Immunity by Receptor-Binding Domain Nanoparticle Vaccines
Paul Duprex, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine - Inhalable Nanobody
Brett Case, Washington University -
Ultrapotent Miniproteins Targeting the Receptor-Binding Domain Protect Against SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Disease
Siddappa Byrareddy, University of Nebraska Medical Center -
Blockade of SARS-CoV-2 Infection by Targeting Virus-Host Interaction Using Small Molecule Entry and PI3K-α/mTOR/BRD4 Inhibitors
Kyeong-Ok Chang, Kansas State University -
Post-Infection Treatment with a Protease Inhibitor Increases Survival of Mice with a Fatal SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Virtual COVID-R3 #6 Package: $100
Discount Virtual COVID-R3 #6 Packages (Previous Attendees Only/Email Alicia Franco for Discount Pricing):
Attended 1 prior CSHL COVID meeting: $85
Attended 2 prior CSHL COVID meetings: $80
Attended all 3 prior CSHL COVID meetings: $75
(All new registrants may register for possible future COVID-R3 conferences for $85/conference)
Virtual Attendance packages include access to online Zoom-based oral sessions with live Q&A and access to the video archive on the Leading Strand for ~twelve weeks following each meeting. For registration & discount questions please reach
Alicia Franco.