How Our Understanding of Coronavirus Is Changing

To start seeing positive results on containing the COVID-19 outbreak, Dr. Paul Kilgore says we need “unprecedented collaboration.”

The novel coronavirus emerged late last year, researchers believe, and our understanding of how it spreads, its effects, and what it will take to eventually contain it is constantly evolving.

“In order to move the field forward fast, it really requires what I believe is unprecedented collaboration.” — Dr. Paul Kilgore

And the best information we have sometimes proves to be wrong, or at least incomplete. 

Listen: Dr. Paul Kilgore on the evolving research on COVID-19.


Guest

Dr Paul Kilgore, Director of Research at the Wayne State University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, joins host Stephen Henderson to talk about how our understanding of the new coronavirus is changing and shifting over time. He describes how both the level of focus, as well as the resources poured into the research behind the virus, are unprecedented.

“The vaccine race is on. It’s flat-out.”

“It’s incredible, the pace. I’ve never seen an accumulation of information and data about a disease [this rapidly] in my career. It’s dizzying,” says Dr. Paul Kilgore.

Kilgore reminds listeners that while there are still higher-risk groups in the population, no group is truly immune from the virus, and everyone should take all the precautions possible to maintain their own health, including minimizing unhealthy habits such as smoking and vaping. But the end goal still revolves around quickly developing and testing an effective vaccine.

“The vaccine race is on. It’s flat-out,” says Dr. Kilgore.

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  • Detroit Today
    Dynamic and diverse voices. News, politics, community and the issues that define our region. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Stephen Henderson, Detroit Today brings you fresh and perceptive views weekdays at 9 am and 7 pm.