The Salk Institute responds to COVID-19 - Episode 018

Where Cures Begin - Salk Institute

In this bonus episode of Where Cures Begin, we hear about the parallels between polio and COVID-19, and how Salk is responding to the pandemic, from faculty in Salk's NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis.

Professor Susan Kaech aims to understand how memory T cells are produced during infection and vaccination, how they function and why they can fail to induce long-term immunity, particularly during chronic disease or cancer.

Professor Greg Lemke discovered a family of proteins called TAM receptors, which play a crucial role in regulating the response of the immune system to infection from bacteria, viruses and other pathogens.

Professor Martin Hetzer is Salk's VP/CSO, responsible for providing leadership in developing and implementing Salk’s overall scientific strategy, as well as overseeing research operations in support of that strategy. Additionally, his lab uses a variety of techniques to pose questions about how the human genome is organized inside a cell’s nucleus.