Eta Zeta/Edinboro Alumnus Works to Develop COVID-19 Vaccine
The following article appeared on April 6, 2020, via the Erie Reader (eriereader.com). It was reprinted with permission from Matthew Swanseger, the author of the article, which highlights David C. Montefiori, Ph.D. (Eta Zeta/Edinboro 1977).
Gary Abbate (Eta Zeta/Edinboro 1976) shared, "Brothers, with great pride and optimism, I want to let everyone know of one of our brother's involvement with the pandemic. Back in the Boro days, Dave Montefiori was known as Monty, who pledged in Fall ‘74.
Now, he is generally known as Dr. David Montefiori. Ph.D. who is part of a group at Duke University that is developing a COVID-19 vaccine and also trying to understand the disease process, susceptibility, transmissibility, and other things of that nature. (Duke is also conducting clinical trials of drugs but he is not involved in those studies.)
His work is mostly aimed at testing serum from vaccines to see if they have the right kind of antibodies that are needed for protection, i.e.- capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus (his laboratory is a biosafety level that allows his team to work with the virus). More importantly, Monty is working with a colleague at Los Alamos National Laboratory who is tracking how the virus is mutating as it continues to adapt to its new human host. She identifies mutant stains that seem to be spreading in the population. He tests those strains to see whether there are new serotypes that might not be covered by the first generation of vaccines, which are all based on a single strain from early in the pandemic (i.e., Wuhan-1 strain). They are concerned that the virus will change into more than one neutralization serotype, much as seasonal flu strains do, and that a vaccine will need to incorporate each serotype in order to have global coverage. In other words, they are trying to get ahead of the game now so that they have the information needed to update the vaccines quickly if needed.
His work keeps him busy 7 days/week and long hours, although he still makes time for running and biking (he is an excellent triathlete), and a former Boro swimmer. A word of advice from our brother: Listen to Tony Fauci and Debbie Birx and do what they recommend (he has known them both for years)."
SARS-CoV-2 Subject of Edinboro Grad's Continued Studies
Thanks to the work of one former Fighting Scot (and Strong Vincent grad), the world may have a fighting chance against future coronavirus pandemics. Dr. David Montefiori, a graduate of the Edinboro University biology program, is teaming with other researchers at Duke University to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 (i.e., severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2.0, the culprit for the current COVID-19 pandemic) while closely monitoring its evolution.
It is the latter focus of their research that may prove most useful, as tracking mutations of SARS-CoV-2 around the world will allow for a vaccine that is more universally effective and prevent or control future outbreaks more quickly — before they metastasize into global pandemics. The baseline for vaccine development thus far has been Wuhan-1, named for the Chinese city where the first case of the novel coronavirus was recorded. However, like other viruses, coronaviruses differentiate into multiple serotypes (subspecies) over time. Dr. Montefiori and the Duke team have been cooperating closely with Los Alamos National Laboratory in Washington, D.C. to keep abreast of these changes.
Duke is one of 35 companies or academic institutions scrambling to prepare a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine — all of which are focused on mobilizing an immune response (antibody production) to the characteristic spike proteins that adorn the virus' shell. The spike protein functions like a key to gain access into the host cell, where the virus begins rapidly creating copies of itself. As of now, four vaccines have entered the animal testing phase (including one developed by the University of Pittsburgh), while one (developed by Bostonian biotech firm Moderna) is set to begin human trials soon.
Despite the record pace of vaccine development, the most optimistic estimates anticipate one being ready by the second half of 2021, at the earliest. By then, COVID-19 will have already done its worst. Through the continued efforts of Dr. Montefiori and others, hopefully next time a threat of this magnitude emerges we can truly say we've done our best.
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