InTouch with Southern Kentucky June 2020 | Page 18

UK Researchers will lead study of
COVID-19 immunity
BY ELIZABETH CHAPIN
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 11, 2020) — University of Kentucky
researchers have launched antibody testing that
will help to understand what immunity to COVID-19
really means. Several research labs and core facilities
within UK’s Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy will be
testing the antibodies of recovered COVID-19 patients
for a study to see how long they protect against reinfection.
The research is part of UK’s COVID-19 Unified Research
Experts (CURE) Alliance team, which is uniting
UK medical researchers across disciplines in the fight
against the novel coronavirus. Supported by the College
of Medicine and Vice President of Research Lisa
Cassis, CURE’s focus is to advise COVID-19 patient care
and clinical trials based on emerging research and potential
treatment options.
As Kentuckians head back to work and school, antibody
testing will likely play an important role in determining
who has already contracted COVID-19 and developed
immunities that will prevent them from reinfection of
SARS-CoV-2, the virus strain that causes the disease.
While UK HealthCare is currently ramping up antibody
testing in a clinical diagnostic setting for this purpose, the
CURE team’s research will be answering very important
questions about COVID-19 immunity: How strong is it and
how long will it last?
“The Alliance is performing critical research that will
help us understand how long antibodies will protect
recovered patients from being reinfected by SARS-CoV-2
in the future,” said Don Cohen, director of UK’s Flow
Cytometry and Immune Monitoring Core Facility (FCIM).
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18 • In Touch with Southern Kentucky June 2020