On Thursday, the Tribune’s Alana Rocha sat down for a live interview with Jason McLellan, associate professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin and leading expert on the coronavirus, to answer the most pressing questions about the coronavirus outbreak and what it means for Texas. Here are some highlights from the conversation:
How is COVID-19 transmitted?
Who is most at risk of becoming infected?
What happens if you become infected?
How long will it take to create a vaccine?
What measures can you take to prevent infection?
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McLellan has led a team of researchers in creating the first 3D atomic-scale map of the part of the coronavirus that attaches to and infects human cells — a critical breakthrough toward developing a vaccine to combat the 2019 novel coronavirus. McLellan has previously studied at the National Institutes of Health’s Vaccine Research Center, and along with his team at McLellan Lab has studied SARS and MERS for many years, viruses that are in the same family as the new coronavirus and have caused outbreaks in the past.
The conversation took place from 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. on March 12 here and on our social media channels.
This event was the first of a virtual event series on coronavirus, join us in the coming weeks for live interviews with Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Peter Hotez on coronavirus in Texas, its impact and the search for a vaccine.
This series of virtual events is presented by Community Health Choice, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas and Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals. This individual event is presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas.
Tribune events are supported through contributions from our founding investors and members. Though donors and corporate sponsors underwrite Texas Tribune events, they play no role in determining the content, panelists or line of questioning.
Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
