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Human Behavior

Top 5 Reasons Gamification is Effective in Web Design – SymbianOne

Web design is an area becoming more and more competitive by the day. The things that worked several months ago can easily become history, with a blink of an eye. It is an ever-evolving industry that always seeks effective and confident ways to get the attention of Internet users. New and innovative methods help website owners lead users down their sales funnels in evolving and effective ways.

And while trends change over time, the professionals working in these areas seem to do well at taking notice and taking action before the new developments transform from novelties into necessities. Some of these new trends come from other areas of design and niches, which seem entirely distinct from web design. For example, some specialists explore and even utilize cognitive psychology and neurobiology in website design. And yet there is only one industry today that truly caters to some of the most innate human needs and wants while entertaining them. This industry hit a stunning $120 billion of revenue in 2019. Yes, you guessed it were talking about the video game industry. Though the industry has been through its highs and lows, today it is one of the most prominent and rapidly growing industries in the world.

It should come as no surprise that at some point, web designers decided to incorporate some gaming elements into websites. At first, it was a gamble. But time proved these chances correct the results were quite encouraging. Gamification works, but only if gaming elements are used properly, consider users behavior, goals, and the niche a particular site belongs to. If you have a company website that isnt successfully driving new leads and converting them to customers, then gamifying your sites design might be a helpful solution. But, if you still dont have a website, you might want to consider adding game elements at the very beginning.

If your company isnt a web design company, finding a team of reliable specialists that can take care of your companys site development and launch is critical to the success of your business. Incredible web design agencies exist in every niche imaginable, so finding the one that can create a site that reflects your brand and matches your budget shouldnt be a problem. The better your website addresses the needs and wants of your audience, the higher the chances it will generate new leads, customers, and income. Sit down with your web design agency in San Francisco to discuss the ways to proactively and effectively gamify your future or existing website.

But, before this all happens, you should get at least some idea of how and why gamification works in web design and how it can help you get more leads and, therefore, customers.

When a visitor gets to your website, more often than not, they just want to get from point A to point B. Leading potential clients towards your desired goal is a part of the user journey. According to simple psychology, people dont like to be made or forced to go anywhere. Everyone wants to be the masters of their destiny. This means its important to make users feel like theyre in the driving seat. Always. This is the heart and soul of gamification. Think about it like the website version of a choose your adventure book.

Online courses like Codecademy and Udemy, do this very well they have a wide range of courses on all kinds of topics. Their gamified systems let users have control at any moment on their platforms. They can choose lectures like game levels; they can even click next lecture whenever they want. It might sound simple, but humans get a kick out of making their own choices.

Once again, this is simple psychology. People like to know where they are going. They like to know where they are in the process. Otherwise, users remain in the dark and become increasingly wary.

When players play Mario, World of Warcraft, and Zelda, theres a clear and simple reason why they have a map! Taking this type of mapping system and incorporating it into various aspects of your website can have drastically positive consequences. Even something as simple as a progress bar can work as a map for your site visitors. Whatever it is that allows them to know where they are in the process of what they are doing is a useful tool. Your potential customers always will want to know how far theyve gone and how far theyve got to go. If you can include achievement milestones along the way. This way, youll break up the journey and make it feel more manageable. Once again, this improves user experience.

When you are training a dog, you reward it with treats. The same happens when it behaves well. It keeps behaving well because it gets its rewards. Although humans are far more complex than this, essentially, the same thing happens when you play a game. When you finish a level, you receive a reward a power-up or a new character, for instance. So you keep doing it again and again. This pattern reinforces a habit of behavior.

Gamified sites do the same thing. Facebook is particularly good at doing this. It is fantastic at incorporating subtle gamification. For instance, when you post an image or status, you get rewarded with reactions (likes, wows, etc.). You get a psychological reward from Facebook. So, you repeat your actions. Facebook is the real winner that keeps user engagement and user numbers high. Rewarding users at every stage of their journey reinforces what you need them to do and hopefully keeps your websites traffic high.

Achievement is one of the strongest psychological driving factors in human behavior. Everything humans do; they do to achieve something. Your website visitors are going to try to achieve something. That could be buying a book, getting fit, learning code, or managing money.

If you can make your prospects feel like they have achieved something, they are going to return. Something like simple praise for a completed task helps create a milestone this is an achievement. We all understand real achievements, like getting fit, or learning a skill, take considerable time and effort. Thus, its important that you break the process down and create turn achievement itself into manageable steps and intervals. This keeps people coming back for more.

By nature, humans are competitive. Most people want to push themselves further and harder. By including previous records and personal bests to your site, you might persuade your audience to come back and try to improve. Show people their statistics, and they will try to beat it on almost any occasion.

It can be quite difficult keeping your target audience engaged with your company website. This reality alone should make you seriously consider gamification. Of course, you dont have to turn your website that has all the relevant information about your company, products, services, and other things into a game. But, adding just a tiny pinch of gaming can drastically improve the user experience.

You should connect your marketing team with that of the web design agency youve hired to make sure that all gaming elements reflect the way your brand takes care of your customers. You want to make certain that the site visitors will value your content and will enjoy surfing it when looking for information, deals, and more. Gamification in web design is a quite effective strategy you just always have to make sure youre doing it the right way.

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Top 5 Reasons Gamification is Effective in Web Design - SymbianOne

Human Behavior

Tomorrow is good: A psychologist in every corona crisis management team – Innovation Origins

Over the past decade, technology has often been labeled as disruptive. This is a characterization with a highly technophobic undertone. Personally, I prefer to focus on the opportunities and capabilities that technology has to offer. Especially now since were confronted with a disruption of unprecedented magnitude on a global scale COVID-19 it has become clear that technology is the link that connects it all. At present, technology is virtually the only option where human interconnectivity is concerned. Whereas most people had never heard of Microsoft Teams or Zoom the week before, a week later you saw that Teams and Zoom, in addition to toilet paper, soap and paracetamol, had become the basic necessities of life. So, people need technology in times of actual disruption. People exhibit different behaviors in a crisis and therefore have different needs.

This shift in human behavior in times of crisis is more than just fascinating. Apart from all the horrors that corona entails, it also represents one huge and natural experiment. How will people behave when they suddenly have to socially distance themselves from each other? The conduct that people will engage in during such a huge natural experiment depends largely on how an experiment is framed.

A good example of the correlation between framing and behavior is the experiment which is now well-known as Das Experiment. An experiment that was even filmed because of its startling outcomes. The Stanford Prison Experiment, as the experiment is actually originally called, shows that when you give individuals another framework, in this case the framework of a prisoner or of a guard, they start to show completely different behavior as a result of this framing.

Yet an even better example, and one which merits less ethical controversy, is the experiment conducted by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman back in the 1970s. In this experiment, Kahneman, together with his good scientist friend Amos Tversky, explores the impact of framing on peoples behavior where making choices is concerned. For the experiment, the following context is presented:

Imagine the US is preparing for the outbreak of an unusual Asian disease, which is likely to kill 600 people. Two separate programs are proposed for combating the disease.

Aside from Bill Gates with his prophetic Ted Talk from 2015, Tversky and Kahneman also belong in the ranks of visionaries. They were already talking around forty years ago about the outbreak of an Asian disease where people would die on other continents. The crux of their experiment lies in the way they described the two programs that were designed to combat the disease. They made two variants of them. In the first variant they described the two programs as follows:

The expected economic outcome is the same for both programs. After all, the expected outcome for program B is that 200 lives will also be saved (1/3 x 600 + 2/3 x 0). The difference is that this expected outcome is achieved without any risk in program A. Whereas a risk factor is built into program B. Given that most people are averse to risk, they tend to choose program A (72 %). The programs were framed differently in the second variant:

These two programs are identical to the previous two. After all, if you save 200 out of 600 people, 400 will automatically die. The results are exactly the same, except that the framing is different. Instead of saving lives, we are now talking about losing lives. When there is something to lose, people suddenly show completely different behavior. They immediately no longer shy away from the risks. In fact, they seek out risks because they hate the idea of losing so much that they do everything in their power to prevent it.

This is pretty much the standard behavior you see in casinos. But you also see that behavior with the outbreak of an Asian disease. In the second variant, the majority (78 %) opt for the more risky program B. So, despite the fact that the choices are actually identical, people tend to behave differently when you frame the options in terms of fatalities rather than lives saved. You can probably imagine how remarkable I think it is that in all the daily statistics about COVID-19, you can find the number of deaths per day and the number of hospitalizations per day, but you cant find the number of recoveries per day anywhere.

This column is a plea for including psychologists and behavioral scientists in every Corona crisis management team. On an ( inter)national level, on a regional level, but also on an organizational level. In his Ted Talk back in 2015, Bill Gates makes a case for a global health system. This entails setting up a specialist team of virologists and biologists which is thoroughly prepared to deal with epidemics. My wish would be that this team also includes psychologists and behavioral scientists. After all, the spread of viruses does not happen all by itself but is the result of human behavior. Therefore, in order to prevent the spread of viruses, we need people with an understanding of human behavior on the frontline.

This column is also an appeal for the spreading of knowledge instead of viruses. The research described here, and a wonderful series of other experiments that together form the Prospect Theory, earned Kahneman the Nobel Prize in Economics. It is my personal conviction that it is precisely at the time of this Corona disruption that everyone should have a look at this research. Only with proper exposure to knowledge can we prevent virus infections.

About this column

In a weekly column, alternately written by Bert Overlack, Mary Fiers,Peter de Kock, Eveline van Zeeland, Hans Helsloot, Lucien Engelen, Tessie Hartjes, Jan Wouters, Katleen Gabriels, and Auke Hoekstra, Innovation Origins tries to find out what the future will look like. These columnists, occasionally supplemented with guest bloggers, are all working in their own way on solutions for the problems of our time. So tomorrow will be good. Read all previous articles in the series here.

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Tomorrow is good: A psychologist in every corona crisis management team - Innovation Origins

Human Behavior

Scripps CEO: Health-Care-Based Trigger Needed Before Reopening Society from COVID-19 Restrictions – GlobeNewswire

SAN DIEGO, April 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Scripps Health today released the following open letter from its President and CEO Chris Van Gorder, advocating the need for a health-care-based trigger for reopening society.

I have been in health care now for more than 40 years and have always been proud of my profession and community service but I have to admit, I have never been prouder to be both in health care and law enforcement than I am today.

For health care providers the physicians, nurses, technicians and support teams, the COVID-19 pandemic is their 9-11. Its their Pearl Harbor. For the first responders, this is a new kind of 9-11. But whatever the cause, the first responders are still running in while others run out. This time, though, they are joined by our committed health care providers.

Im also proud of how our hospitals and health care systems have come together as they always do in times of disaster to work together for the good of community. Today in San Diego County, patients are being cared for by a health care community not a group of independent hospitals and health systems. And that health care community is working hand-in-glove with our elected officials and County Public Health.

I want to extend thanks to these officials for listening to health care leaders several weeks ago when we asked to shut down much of San Diego County to flatten the curve. We asked for that so as not to overwhelm the health care system as we have seen elsewhere in Asia, Europe and even parts of the United States. And cautiously speaking it appears we have been successful so far. Those difficult decisions and the support of our community businesses and citizens alike have saved lives and countless heartbreak.

But now, I hear talk of easing those restrictions and Im concerned once again for several reasons.

There are troubling stories coming out of Baja, Mexico that indicate that our neighbors to the south have not been as successful as we have been in flattening the COVID curve, and we know that many people still cross the border every day for economic and personal reasons. Scripps has many employees who live in Mexico and we are concerned for them. This could be an issue for a border community like San Diego.

We know human behavior. Once we start to ease restrictions, people will start to interface more in public and we could very likely see another spike in patients thus making the success to date a moot point and a wasted effort.

And we still do not have the medical supplies necessary to treat patients in a surge, nor do we have a reliable source of resupply for hospital protective equipment for our staff and physicians.

So, I propose a trigger to start easing restrictions and reopening businesses. These will be tough decisions, I realize, and ones I dont have to make.

I learned a long time ago that to win a battle and this is indeed a health care battle your frontline soldiers must have the supplies and equipment needed to protect themselves and win. Battles are often won by logistics not just by the soldiers.

So, I propose that the trigger to relax regulations and reopen society be when we are sure that our health care providers have all of the personal protective gear they need, along with the ventilators, pharmaceuticals and other supplies required to care for our COVID-19 patients and the other emergency patients we see on a daily basis. This means we should make sure that hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, long-term care facilities and home health agencies, as well as all of our first responders, have what they need to do the job.

COVID-19 is now community spread. Its not going away anytime soon. If the powers that be reopen society before we are ready, we will see a rebounding of cases and the health care providers will be on the front-line of that battle as they are today. So lets make sure if we see that spike, that we are ready this time.

Shame on us as a society if we reopen before we can give these heroes that assurance. We can do this and we should do this.

ABOUT SCRIPPS HEALTH

Founded in 1924 by philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, Scripps Healthis a nonprofit integrated health care delivery system based in San Diego, Calif. Scripps treats more than 600,000 patients annually through the dedication of 3,000 affiliated physicians and more than 15,000 employees among its five acute-care hospital campuses, home health care services, 28 outpatient centers and clinics, and hundreds of affiliated physician offices throughout the region.

Recognized as a leader in disease and injury prevention, diagnosis and treatment, Scripps is also at the forefront of clinical research. With three highly respected graduate medical education programs, Scripps is a longstanding member of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Scripps has been ranked five times as one of the nations best health care systems by Truven Health Analytics. Its hospitals are ranked No. 1 in San Diego County and among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Scripps also is recognized by Advisory Board, Fortune and Working Mother magazine as one of the best places in the nation to work. More information can be found at http://www.scripps.org.

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Scripps CEO: Health-Care-Based Trigger Needed Before Reopening Society from COVID-19 Restrictions - GlobeNewswire

Cell Biology

Cloud Computing in Cell Biology, Genomics and Drug Development Market interpreted by a new report – WhaTech Technology and Markets News

Cloud Computing in Cell Biology, Genomics and Drug Development Market research report also gives information on the Trade Overview, Policy, Regional Market, Production Development, Sales, Regional Trade, Business Operation Data, Market Features, Investment Opportunity, Investment Calculation and other important aspects of the industry.

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ReportsnReports has recently added a new research report to its expanding repository. The research report, titled Cloud Computing in Cell Biology, Genomics and Drug Development Market, mainly includes a detailed segmentation of this sector, which is expected to generate massive returns by the end of the forecast period, thus showing an appreciable rate of growth over the coming years on an annual basis.

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The report provides a comprehensive summary of cloud computing for cell biology, genomics and drug design along with detailed profiles of key market players including a revenue product portfolio and recent activities. The report analyzes trends and dynamics including drivers, limitations, challenges and opportunities.

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This research study discusses historical, current and potential market size. The report will help market players and new entrants to make informed decisions about the production and export of goods and services, as well as providing organizations, distributors and exporters information about market development and trends.

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Report Includes:

43 data tables and 18 additional tables An overview of the global market for cloud computing applications in cell biology, genomics and drug development Analyses of global and regional market trends, with data from 2018 to 2019, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2024 Assessment of market trends and opportunities, key developments and the impact of cloud computing technology on the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and healthcare industry verticals Insight into recent developments in cloud infrastructure and information pertaining to key partnerships between cloud service providers and pharma/biotech companies and investment in pharmaceutical R&D sector Discussion of the suppliers landscape, as well as the market positioning and strategies of key manufacturers and suppliers for cloud computing applications Review of patent applications filed regarding cloud computing technology in the U.S. healthcare sector Company profiles of the leading market players, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., DXC Technology, Google LLC, Salesforce.com Inc., and SAP SE

Summary

The global market for cloud computing in cell biology, genomics and drug development is estimated to grow at a CAGR of REDACTED during the forecast period. The market was valued at REDACTED in 2018 and is expected to reach REDACTED in 2024.

In biomedical research, cloud computing has resolved big data concerns and improves data, analytics, collaboration and sharing. Increasing biomedical research based on human, animal, plants, and microbes has increased the dependency on proper storage and network infrastructure as well as secure and scalable computing.

With growing big data concerns, researchers are inclined towards cloud computing platforms. These platforms provide flexibility to users to pay according to their usage of cloud services including software, hardware infrastructure and platforms to solve biomedical computation concerns.

The cloud offers ondemand storage and an analysis facility to users which makes it an emerging computing platform to address big data concerns. Owing to the flexibility and cost-effectiveness, cloud services are gaining significant importance in life science research for data storage, communication and collaboration with stakeholders.

On cloud platforms, large datasets and applications for gene sequencing, image analysis, protein folding and data mining can be shared for collaborative research between facilities.

The major pivotal factors contributing to the growth of the market include rising genomics and proteomics research and the increasing number of clinical trials performed across various countries. Considerable public and private investment in genomics and proteomics research is providing support to biotechnology start-ups and research institutes.

This helps healthcare providers to develop and commercialize genomics technologies and personalized medicines. Increasing U.S. FDA approvals for personalized medicines are supporting the growth in genomics research.

For example, according to the Personalized Medicine Coalition, in 2018, approximately REDACTED of the REDACTED new molecularentities (NMEs) approved by the FDA are personalized medicines which constitute REDACTED of all new drug approvals.

The Coalition classified REDACTED of NMEs as personalized medicines in 2017, REDACTED in 2015 and REDACTED in 2016. The U.S. FDA is making efforts to facilitate access to genomic testing and integration of real-world evidence into its regulatory framework.

As a result, the FDA has begun to authorize the marketing of cancer-related genetic tests, and pharmacogenetics were allowed to be sold directly to the consumers. This has resulted in the development of personalized medicine as an emerging practice of medicine that utilizes the genetic profile of an individual to make appropriate decisions regarding prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

Gaining complete knowledge about the patients genetic profile helps doctors to choose proper therapy or medication and to administer it with the proper regimen or dose. Significant data is generated by sequencing a single human genome which necessitates the adoption of cloud services.

The 1000 Genomes Project is an effort to sequence genomes of at least a thousand people from across the globe to develop the most comprehensive and medically relevant picture of human genetic variation. This initiative intends to make genomic data easily accessible from international research institutions.

Major support for the project is offered by the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, England and the Beijing Genomics Institute, Shenzhen (BGI Shenzhen) in China.

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Recent Industry Trend:

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Scope of the Report:

Through following the Cloud Computing in Cell Biology, Genomics and Drug Development Market through depth, the readers should find this study very helpful. The aspects and details are depicted by charts, bar graphs, pie diagrams, and other visual representations in theCloud Computing in Cell Biology, Genomics and Drug Development Market study.

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Cloud Computing in Cell Biology, Genomics and Drug Development Market interpreted by a new report - WhaTech Technology and Markets News

Cell Biology

Innate Pharma to Hold Its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 19, 2020 Without the Physical Presence of Its Shareholders – BioSpace

MARSEILLE, France, April 14, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Innate Pharma (the Company - Euronext Paris: FR0010331421 IPH) will hold its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) on May 19, 2020 AM in its headquarters, 117 avenue de Luminy, F-13009 Marseille.

The procedures for holding the Combined General Meeting have been adapted in accordance with Article 4 of Ordinance No. 2020-321 of 25 March 2020 adapting the rules for meetings and deliberations of the meetings and governing bodies of legal entities and entities without legal personality under private law due to the Covid-19 epidemic (the "Covid-19 Ordinance").

In accordance with Article 4 of Covid-19 Ordinance, the AGM must be held without the shareholders and other persons entitled to attend being physically present. Shareholders are therefore invited to vote at the general meeting either by mail or by proxy.

The Notice of Meeting of this AGM was published on April 14, 2020, in the French official legal bulletin (BALO). It includes the agenda, the proposed resolutions as well as instructions to participate and vote in this AGM. It is also available on the Companys website.

All documentation regarding this AGM will be published on the Companys website as of today.

Precision regarding the AGM:

Only shareholders having registered their shares at least two business days prior to the date of the AGM, by midnight Paris time, will be able to participate.

Shareholders holding au porteur (bearer) shares will need to obtain an attestation de participation (certificate of shareholding) from their brokers. This attestation de participation must be attached to the proxy form or to the appropriate voting form if shareholders wish to designate a proxy or vote by post.

Written questions from shareholders must be received from the day of the publication of the official convocation to the AGM up until four business days prior to the AGM (by e-mail to investors@innate-pharma.com).

Shareholders may obtain the legal documentation in preparation of the AGM (as described in article R. 225-83 of the French Code de Commerce) by sending a request by e-mail to investors@innate-pharma.com.

About Innate Pharma:

Innate Pharma S.A. is a commercial stage oncology-focused biotech company dedicated to improving treatment and clinical outcomes for patients through therapeutic antibodies that harness the immune system to fight cancer.

Innate Pharmas commercial-stage product, Lumoxiti, in-licensed from AstraZeneca in the US, EU and Switzerland, was approved by the FDA in September 2018. Lumoxiti is a first-in class specialty oncology product for hairy cell leukemia. Innate Pharmas broad pipeline of antibodies includes several potentially first-in-class clinical and preclinical candidates in cancers with high unmet medical need.

Innate has been a pioneer in the understanding of natural killer cell biology and has expanded its expertise in the tumor microenvironment and tumor-antigens, as well as antibody engineering. This innovative approach has resulted in a diversified proprietary portfolio and major alliances with leaders in the biopharmaceutical industry including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi, and a multi-products collaboration with AstraZeneca.

Based in Marseille, France, Innate Pharma is listed on Euronext Paris and Nasdaq in the US.

Learn more about Innate Pharma at http://www.innate-pharma.com

Information about Innate Pharma shares:

Disclaimer:

Neither this press release nor the information contained herein constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for shares in Innate Pharma in any country.

For additional information, please contact:

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Innate Pharma to Hold Its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 19, 2020 Without the Physical Presence of Its Shareholders - BioSpace

Cell Biology

University Of Chicago Medicine Conducting Breakthrough Study On Blood Plasma Treatment For COVID-19 – CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) A possible breakthrough treatment for the novel coronavirus is being tested in Chicago.

Doctors at University of Chicago Medicine are using blood plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients to treat those who are seriously ill with the disease.

Assistant Professor of Surgery Dr. Maria Lucia Madariaga joined CBS 2s Brad Edwards and Irika Sargent via Skype on Monday to explain how it works.

So basically, convalescent plasma relies on the principle of passive immunity. Essentially, well be taking plasma which is the liquid part of your blood from a patient who has recovered from the disease, and transfuse it into patients who are currently sick in the hospital, in the hopes of transferring antivirus antibodies to fight COVID-19, Madariaga said.

The study involves several different units and professors at the U of C, particularly Dr. Patrick Wilson whose research is focused on B cell biology and the specificity of expressed antibody molecules. Also involved are the blood bank, the Transplant Institute, the Department of Medicine, and the Department of Surgery, Madariaga said.

The goal, she said, is to understand how convalescent plasma works, how we can best treat patients, and which proteins are the best target for a vaccine.

Convalescent plasma treatment is far from new. Madariaga explained that in the 20th century, it was used to prevent schoolchildren from getting measles.

It has also been used to treat patients with influenza, and with SARS and MERS two respiratory diseases that were also caused by coronaviruses.

Currently, early reports from China suggest that plasma therapy is helpful and safe for COVID-19 patients, Madariaga said.

Right now, plasma donors are needed, Madariaga said. Donors must be 18 or older and must have had a positive COVID-19 test in the past and no longer have symptoms.

Patients who receive the plasma will be those who have severe or life-threatening COVID-19.

The reports that we have right now from around the world, in centers who are using this form of therapy, show that improvements occur in patients. But its too early to say what the exact time course is going to be, Madariaga said.

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University Of Chicago Medicine Conducting Breakthrough Study On Blood Plasma Treatment For COVID-19 - CBS Chicago

Cell Biology

FRQS to fund new structural biology centre at McGill University – McGill Newsroom

The health sciences research arm of the Quebec government [Fonds de recherche du Qubec sant (FRQS)] today announced it will provide $2 million to assist in the establishment of the Centre de Recherche en Biologie Structurale (CRBS) at McGill University. The new centre will become the premiere Structural Biology facility in Quebec and a leading centre in Canada, and aims to facilitate structural biology and biophysics for the broader scientific community for the next wave of scientific breakthroughs

Some of the most pressing challenges in medicine today include targeting treatments to specific patients, fighting antibiotic resistance and treating neurological conditions linked to aging. Collectively, these phenomena affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Understanding the fundamental biological mechanisms of disease is essential in order to develop effective treatments. The CRBS will focus the expertise of 38 McGill researchers based in nine different departments in areas such as biochemistry, physiology, pharmacology, anatomy and cell biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, parasitology and biology to advance our knowledge of the molecular basis of disease and leveraging biophysical, chemical and synthetic biology for human health worldwide. The Director of the centre will be Dr. Martin Schmeing, and the Associate Director will be Dr. Alba Guarn, both Canada Research Chair holders and accomplished structural biologists.

Structural biology is of fundamental importance for human health research.Creating this new centre will enable us to be on the leading edge of new discoveries, and will maintain the prominence of Quebec as a hub for world-leading medical inquiry."Dr. Martha Crago, Vice Principal, Research & Innovation at McGill University.

McGill University, renowned for its medical research and training abilities, is an ideal location to house the CRBS, as it offers excellent facilities for biophysical training, and the necessary specialized equipment for leading-edge investigations. This includes X-ray diffraction sets, imaging and robotics for crystallization, state-of-the-art equipment for high-resolution biological electron microscopy, mass spectrometers, circular dichroism spectrophotometers, isothermal titration calorimeters and many others.

The CRBS will spearhead a number of new initiatives including:

The establishment of the CRBS supports the strategic goals of both the FRQS and the University. In particular, McGill University has a commitment to advance biomedical and health sciences for healthy populations. The FRQS, meanwhile, is charged with enacting the Strategie Quebecoise de la recherche et de linnovation (SQRI), which aims to develop talent, skills and competencies to increase research capacity and support innovation. The new CRBS will enable both organizations to achieve their long-term objectives while supporting exciting discoveries in fundamental biomedical research.

About McGill UniversityFounded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, McGill is a leading Canadian post-secondary institution. It has two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% per cent of the student body. Over half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.

About the Fonds de recherche du Qubec santThe Fonds de recherche du Qubec Sant promotes and provides financial support for all areas of research in the field of health, including basic, clinical and epidemiological research, research in the field of public health and research in the field of health services.

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FRQS to fund new structural biology centre at McGill University - McGill Newsroom

Biochemistry

PharmaJet partners with Immunomic Therapeutics and EpiVax to develop and deliver COVID-19 Vaccine – BioSpace

GOLDEN, Colo., April 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --PharmaJet, the maker of innovative, needle-free injection technology, today announced that its TropisNeedle-free injection system will be used to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by Immunomic Therapeutics, Inc. (ITI). ITI is a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering the study of nucleic acid immunotherapy platforms using the body's natural biochemistry to generate a broad immune response. The vaccine candidate against COVID-19 will leverage their investigational UNiversal Intracellular Targeted Expression (UNITETM) platform.

ITI will develop its vaccine in collaboration with EpiVax and PharmaJet, Inc. They aim to deliver a scalable approach that could be applied prophylactically and therapeutically, while being safe and immunogenic. PharmaJet's well established Tropis Needle-free Injection System has been chosen because it precisely targets delivery to the intradermal tissue depth.

Chris Cappello, President and CEO, PharmaJet, Inc., said, "We are pleased to be working with ITI and EpiVax to provide our delivery system for the development of a vaccine to fight COVID-19. Additionally, PharmaJet has been actively working with U.S. federal agencies such as BARDA and the Department of Defense on their global pandemic programs. The Tropis system is already being used to eradicate diseases, such as polio, and has proven very effective in mass immunization campaigns."

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the 201920 coronavirus pandemic is a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).There is currently no vaccine to protect against COVID-19.

For more information about PharmaJet visit http://www.pharmajet.com.

View the joint press release here.

Refer to Instructions for Use to ensure safe injections and to review risks.

About PharmaJetPharmaJet's mission is worldwide acceptance of PharmaJet needle-free injection systems as a standard of care in the vaccine delivery market. The PharmaJet Needle-free systems are safe, fast and easy-to-use. They eliminate needlestick injuries, needle reuse and cross contamination, and help reduce sharps waste disposal.

CONTACT:Nancy LillieNancy.Lillie@pharmajet.com1-888-900-4321 Option 3

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PharmaJet partners with Immunomic Therapeutics and EpiVax to develop and deliver COVID-19 Vaccine - BioSpace

Biochemistry

Lead the way, Kansas | Gaz – Emporia Gazette

A biochemistry professor at Kansas State University has exactly the right idea: Kansas should aggressively test as many people as possible for the coronavirus.

In a letter to the editor earlier this week, Sally Newton suggested that our state could prove to the rest of the country that this is the way to stop a viral pandemic.

Kansas is not that big, relatively speaking, with a population of 2.9 million people, about a third the size of New York City. The number of confirmed cases is around 500; in New York, there are more than 47,000 confirmed cases

About 5,400 people in Kansas have been tested.

Authorities have doled out the tests in a miserly manner in our state, and in the U.S. generally, because of short supplies. We cant blame local authorities for setting priorities in testing. It is an enormous failure on the part of the federal government.

Other countries are taking a far more aggressive approach: In Germany, theyre testing 500,000 people a week, and theyre looking to ramp up to 200,000 per day. England is aiming for 25,000 people a day by the end of April. Sweden and Austria are at 15,000 tests per day.

The consequence of a lack of testing in the U.S. has been that governments have to shut down everything in order to keep everybody away from each other. Social distancing is a logical response, under those circumstances, in order to keep from overwhelming the health care system. Citizens have to do their part by following those rules, and nothing were saying here is intended to undermine that. In other words, stay home. Its our best shot right now.

But its not ideal. Shuttered businesses mean lost jobs, among other things.

In Kansas, we could pretty much test everybody if the right people and political forces got behind it. Sally Newton, the K-State biochemistry professor, said in the letter we published Sunday, that it could be called the Kansas Experiment, and that could show the rest of the country that its the way to move forward.

Mass testing could allow us to quarantine people who actually have the virus or whove been in contact with people carrying it. That would prevent infected people who dont yet show symptoms from giving it to others. It could also shorten the duration of social distancing, if done right.

Manhattan Mercury

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Lead the way, Kansas | Gaz - Emporia Gazette

Immunology

What it means to be immune to coronavirus – Mashable

The coronavirus is a vexing parasite.

Around one in four infected people may have no symptoms, as far as experts currently know (the disease is new, so these numbers aren't yet fully certain). So it leaves many of us with a burning question: Is it possible you were infected, but didn't get sick?

It's a question of paramount importance. A bedrock of immunology (the study of how the body defends against infections) is if a virus infects you and you fight off the infection you develop an immunity to it for some time, even if you had mild symptoms. This means, after you eventually get a blood test to show immunity, you could then safely reenter society without immediately catching and spreading the respiratory disease COVID-19.

"The golden rule of immunology is if you are infected with a virus, get sick, and recover, you probably won't get reinfected with the same virus," said Mark Cameron, an immunologist at Case Western Reserve University who previously helped contain the outbreak of another deadly coronavirus, SARS, in 2003.

When exposed to a new virus, the body will soon create defensive proteins in your bloodstream, called antibodies, that block the virus from successfully hijacking the body's cells in the future. (That's why vaccines which encourage your body to make antibodies work, and the U.S. eradicated polio over 30 years ago).

This is happening with the new coronavirus, too, but disease experts must observe the response of recovered coronavirus patients to understand how effective this immunity is, how long it will last, and if some people can be reinfected. The CDC, for example, just started recruiting Americans to see who has been infected and made antibodies. People infected with SARS developed immunity for an average of two to three years.

"It's very likely if you got exposed that you mounted a response and you would have antibodies," explained Dr. Vince Silenzio, an M.D. and professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health. "We are fairly certain people are becoming immune [to the new coronavirus]."

And critically, just because someone had a mild response or showed no symptoms at all there's no conclusive evidence they build up a weaker immune defense against the coronavirus, officially named SARS-CoV-2.

"The bottom line is it's not necessarily true yet that people with mild infections have less of an immune response," said Silenzio.

"Asymptomatic infections are just as likely to grant immunity to the bearer as frank infections [meaning infections that cause disease], despite the challenge in identifying these infections and the risk of spread they entail," agreed Cameron.

Why, though, might a significant number of people have such mild (or no) symptoms to this new coronavirus? There could be genetic or health differences that make it more difficult for the coronaviruses to infect a cell. It's also possible that people with milder infections were only exposed to a tiny amount of the virus (like someone picking up just a few particles off a piece of mail versus an ER doctor getting sprayed with millions of viral particles). "It's possible that asymptomatic people were exposed to a much lower dose," said Brian Baker, a biochemist at the University of Notre Dame.

The reason there are severe, mild, and asymptomatic infections will be intensively researched throughout this year, and beyond. Although researchers have learned a great amount about this microbe, the virus is still new to science. After all, this coronavirus only spilled over to humans from other animal species in the last five months. "We dont have all the answers yet," Silenzio said. "But on the other hand," he added, "it's amazing we have as many answers as we do."

As far as peoples' future immunity is concerned, there are still some weighty questions out there. For example, there are recent reports out of South Korea and China of people who supposedly already had coronavirus, but then tested positive for the infection again. This would challenge the idea they developed immunity. "There is some controversy currently regarding whether people are truly immune to COVID-19 once they have it, because there have been stories to the contrary," said Cameron.

"This virus is teaching us new stories"

There's an explanation, however, for these reinfections. There's evidence the virus may have temporarily eased off in these patients, and later picked up steam again. So it could have been the same infection all along not someone getting sick from a new infection. "Infection causes different courses of disease in people that's not unusual," explained Cameron.

Another looming question is how long immunity to the new coronavirus may last, either after recovering from an infection or getting a vaccine (when one becomes available in 2021 at the earliest). For example, if the coronavirus mutates too much, the body's immunity is lost. "Some viruses change rapidly and some don't change rapidly," said Notre Dame's Baker.

The polio virus, for example, doesn't mutate quickly. So a polio vaccination (which sparks the body to produce new antibodies) generally lasts one's entire life. But other viruses, like influenza, mutate constantly and require those annual flu shots you're so familiar with.

The good news is the new coronavirus hasn't been mutating quickly so far, explained Baker. This means it's relatively stable. We don't know how long immunity might last, but this virus is unlikely to change so fast it will reinfect people or outpace forthcoming vaccines, said Cameron.

At the end of the day, this coronavirus may unwittingly help humanity tame the pandemic. While it's true that asymptomatic people can spread the virus when they're infected (that's why everyone must social distance right now), if one in four infected people are truly asymptomatic, that means that likely millions of people will ultimately develop immunity whether they know it or not and won't be able to spread the virus around until we get a vaccine. "That would be a good thing," said Baker.

"We can count on the fact that the vast majority of COVID infections will cause immunity," said Cameron, noting that a vaccine will then only add to the number of immune people. Ultimately, this is how we end this grim pandemic, now that we've failed to contain it.

Though immunologists have an ever-strengthening grip on this coronavirus, they're aware the microbe is still revealing itself. Each day scientists around the globe learn more about how it behaves and infects people. So stay tuned for an improved understanding of how immunity will play out with SARS-CoV-2, a virus that's on pace to kill some 68,000 Americans by August (but likely many more if we don't sustain extreme social distancing measures).

"This virus is teaching us new stories," said Cameron. "The story is not yet written."

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What it means to be immune to coronavirus - Mashable