VCOM 2021 Annual Report

COVID-19 Research at VCOM

The Genetic Change Driving SARS-CoV-2 Human Adaptation P awel Michalak, PhD , VCOM-Louisiana and Lin Kang, PhD , VCOM-Louisiana, with collaborators at the Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM), have published their research about the evolution of the SARS- CoV-2 coronavirus in the August issue of Cell (PMID: 34289344). The collaborative VCOM- VT research team identified evidence of a recent adaptation in the SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequence that likely precipitated the emergence of the virus from an animal host and enabled human-to-human transmission. The preprint manuscript posted on Biorxiv has been viewed over 2,600 times and was featured on the popular science podcast “TWiEVO: This Week in Evolution” and in the Wall Street Journal. The research was conducted jointly through Dr. Michalak’s VCOM seed grant-funded project: “Experimental evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and Dr. Kang’s NSF-funded study: Integrating Genotype, Phenotype, and Environment to Identify Biomarkers of Coronavirus Disease Severity and Transmission.” ■

Alexis Stoner, PhD

COVID-19 Rapid Response Vaccination Clinic A lexis Stoner, PhD , VCOM-Carolinas, in partnership with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC-DHEC), has been awarded a one-

year, $10,000 COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant to provide vaccination clinics across Cherokee, Union and Spartanburg counties. Doralyn Jones, DO, VCOM-Carolinas, was the lead physician involved in the outreach.

Doralyn Jones, DO

The VCOM Mobile Medical Unit provided 16 vaccine clinics, offering flu shots during October and November 2020. VCOM and DHEC offered 18 school-based vaccine clinics for adolescents in Cherokee and Union Counties, serving a total of 334 children. A total of 1,386 vaccines have been administered through July 2021 through the mobile clinic partnership. VCOM also partnered with DHEC in the development and implementation of a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Spartanburg to help South Carolinians have fair and equal access to COVID-19 vaccines. VCOM faculty and students in partnership with DHEC worked to vaccinate thousands of residents over the course of three months. ■

Left to right: Lin Kang, PhD and Pawel Michalak, PhD

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