Respiratory Pathogens: COVID-19 and Beyond (COVID-19 ARC Program)

Co-Directors

Markus Bosmann, MD (PULMONARY CENTER)
Mohsan Saeed, PhD (BIOCHEMISTRY & CELL BIOLOGY, NEIDL)

Synopsis

SARS-CoV-2 caused a global pandemic, leading to an unprecedented public health crisis within a few months. With an urgent need to gain better insights into the pathogenesis of localized SARS-CoV-2 infection in the lung and its distant organ complications, this Affinity Research Collaborative (ARC), a multi-disciplinary researcher team of Boston University (BUMC, CRC) aims to develop and test novel cell cultures systems to dissect how this virus invades the lung and other organs, how it replicates inside cells, and how it is recognized and counteracted by the host immune defence. Using mouse models of the disease, studies will also focus on life-threatening complications, such as Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), sepsis, multi-organ failure, coagulopathy, and the role of co-infections, co-morbidities, sex and age. These directions will serve as a translational platform for pre-clinical models of SARS-CoV-2 infection to design innovative diagnostics, preventive agents and facilitate the drug development process. Bidirectional translational interactions between basic scientists, clinicians and epidemiologists will be embedded in the existing infrastructures, science networks and the collaborative culture of BU. In a broader perspective, this ARC initiative aspires to strengthen the preparedness for outbreaks of contagious respiratory viruses in the future. Hence, we envisioned this ARC platform to set the stage for self-sustaining extramurally funded research programs of other respiratory viral illnesses modeled on investigative pursuits carried out here.

The purpose of this Affinity Research Collaborative (ARC) was to build an interdisciplinary research program focused on pandemic and endemic respiratory pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, influenza viruses, and bacterial pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and Legionella spp., which collectively cause substantial global morbidity and mortality (1). The ARC was initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when there was an urgent need to establish experimental models, infrastructure, and collaborative networks for studying SARS-CoV-2. As the pandemic evolved, the ARC broadened its scope to address shared mechanisms of respiratory infection, host defense, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and post-infectious complications.

Vaccines and antiviral therapies have substantially reduced the burden of severe COVID-19, but vaccination does not completely prevent infection or transmission, effectiveness varies among pathogens and emerging variants, and vaccines are not available for many respiratory pathogens. Future pandemics may also involve pathogens capable of partially evading pre-existing immunity. Continued investigation of the molecular and cellular mechanisms governing infection, host responses, tissue injury, and recovery therefore remains essential for improving diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of viral and bacterial pneumonia and ARDS.

During the final years of the ARC, this broader mission became increasingly important. Research activities expanded beyond SARS-CoV-2 toward other clinically important respiratory pathogens, particularly S. pneumoniae and Legionella, as well as influenza, and emerging respiratory viruses. This transition leveraged the infrastructure, technologies, expertise, and collaborative relationships originally established for COVID-19 research and redirected them toward sustained respiratory-pathogen preparedness.

Members

Markus Bosmann, MD, Pulmonary Center Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Mohsan Saeed, PhD, NEIDL, Biochemistry
Kristine Abo, Post Doc,
Yuriy Alekseyev, PhD, Clinical Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Konstantinos Dionysios Alysandratos, MD, PhD, Pulmonary Center, CReM
Manu Anantpadma, PhD, NEIDL
Nahid Bhadelia, MD, Infectious Disease
Kevin Brueck, PhD Student, Pulmonary
Eric Burks, MD, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Joshua Campbell, PhD, Computational Biomedicine
David Center, MD, CTSI Director, Pulmonary Center
Kevin Chandler, PhD, Biochemistry
Felicia Chen, PhD, Pulmonary
Vipul Chitalia, MD, Medicine, Nephrology
Daniel Cifuentes Buira, PhD, Biochemistry
John Connor, PhD, NEIDL, Microbiology
Rena Conti, PhD, Questrom, Markets, Public Policy & Law
Ronald Corley, PhD, NEIDL Director
Catherine Costello, PhD, Center for Biomedical Mass Spectrometry Director
Nicholas Crossland, DVM, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Robert Davey, PhD, NEIDL, Microbiology
Lynn Deng, PhD, Research Implementation
Florian Douam, PhD, NEIDL, Microbiology
Andrew Emili, PhD, Biology
Kara Farquharson, PhD Student, Pulmonary
Alan Fine, MD, Pulmonary
Lucien Garo, PhD student, Pulmonary Center Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Valerie Gouon-Evans, PhD,PharmD, Gastroenterology, CReM
Anthony Griffiths, PhD, NEIDL, Microbiology
Rahm Gummuluru, PhD, NEIDL, Developmental Core Director, Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Res (Prov/Bos CFAR)
Jim Hamilton, PhD, Physiology & Biophysics
Finn Hawkins, MBBCh, Medicine CReM
Olivia Tsai Hix, Resesarch Study Technician, CReM
Jessie Huang, Post Doc, CReM
Adam Hume, PhD, NEIDL, Microbiology
Elaine Hylek, MD, General Internal Medicine
Laertis Ikonomou, PhD, CReM, Pulmonary Center
Karen Jacobson, MD, MPH, Medicine
Archana Jayaraman,  Post Doc, Pulmonary
Yang Jin, MD, PhD, Medicine
Matthew Jones, PhD, Pulmonary Center
Konstantinos Kontodimas, Research Assistant, Pulmonary
Darrell Kotton, MD, CReM, Pulmonary Center
Wendy Kuohung, MD, Obstetrics & Gynecology / Reproductive Endocrinology
Ben Linas, MD, MPH, Infectious Diseases
Weining Lu, MD, MS, FASN, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Jose Carlos Villacorta Martin, PhD
Sarah Anne Mazzilli, PhD, Computational Biomedicine
Jay Mizgerd, ScD, Pulmonary, Microbiology
Gustavo Mostoslavsky, PhD, Gastroenterology, CReM
Elke Mühlberger, PhD, NEIDL, Microbiology, Biomolecule Production Core Director
Melissa Pesta, Technician, Pulmonary
Valentina Perissi, PhD, Biochemistry
Lee Quinton, PhD, Medicine
Nader Rahimi, PhD, Pathology
Vasan Ramachandran, MD, Preventative Medicine & Epidemiology Section Chief
Katya Ravid, DSc, Medicine, Biochemistry, Whitaker Cardiovascular Center, Boston University Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Office & Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Director
Daniel Remick, MD, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
Nathan Sanders, MD-PhD Student, Pulmonary
Francesca Seta, PhD, Vascular Biology, Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute, Metabolic Phenotyping & IVIS Imaging Core Director
Arjun Sharma, Research Fellow, Pulmonary
Chantelle Simone, Research Assistant, Center for Biomedical Mass Spectrometry
Saravanan Subramaniam, PhD, Infectious Diseases and Coagulation Disorders
Ellen Suder, PhD Student, Microbiology
Jacquelyn Turcinov, PhD Student, NEIDL
Katrina Traber, Md, PhD, Medicine
Xaralabos ‘Bob’ Varelas, PhD, Biochemistry
Sarah Walachowski, Post Doc, Infectious Diseases and Coagulation Disorders
Ruby Wang, MD, Pulmonary Medicine
Rhiannon Werder, Post Doc, CReM, Pulmonary
Lee Wetzler, MD, Infectious Diseases
Andrew Wilson, MD, CReM, Pulmonary
Ben Wolozin, PhD, Pharmacology & Exp Therapeutics
Chaoshuang Xia, Post Doc
Grace Zhao, MD, PhD, Chief & Vice Chair for Anatomic Pathology, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine