The path to vaccines and treatments during epidemics such as COVID-19: Hoping to avoid mistakes made during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Susan Ellenberg, PhD, and coauthors of the WHO’s R&D Blueprint group call for a new clinical trials “core protocol.”

We believe that as many as one million Americans who fall victiem to COVID-19 will need the support of ventilators — five times the number we have, writes critical care physician Meghan Brooks Lane-Fall, MD, MSHP, FCCM. However, there are at least three steps we can take to give everyone the best chance.

President Trump has argued for widespread use of some promising drugs for COVID-19: “What have you got to lose?” Patients treated with drugs that haven’t been adequately studied have plenty to lose, writes Susan Ellenberg, PhD, in Slate.

On WITF public radio, Susan Ellenberg, PhD, commented about the pressure on current clinical trials for COVID-19 therapeutics. “It’s not so different from the way it was years ago, when I was at the NIH during the early days of the AIDS epidemic,” she says.Hear the segment starting at minute 23:50.

Michael Levy, PhD, doesn’t think we can maintain our initial social distancing standards for the duration of the COVID-19 epidemic, he told the Associated Press. “The analogy of pumping car brakes on an icy road is what we should be thinking about.”

Speaking with The Atlantic, Karen Glanz, PhD, MPH, advised on exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic: It's okay to go for a walk outside, but maintain safe social distance from people you encounter.

Think in terms of months, not weeks, write medical ethicist Ezekiel Emanuel, Susan Ellenberg, PhD (biostatistics) and Michael Levy, PhD (epidemiology) in a New York Times opinion piece. We need to stop picturing that ubiquitous “flatten the curve” chart and start imagining a roller coaster.

Why are so many patients dying after lung transplants? A new study led by Jason Christie, MD, MSCE, aims to identify risk factors for chronic lung allograft dysfunction, the top cause.

Michael Levy, PhD, argues that a last-minute amendment weakens Philadelphia’s plan to stop being the nation's No.1 most bedbug infested city. Bedbugs are difficult to eliminate from homes, but they are not so difficult to control in a city, he writes. With the proper push, Philadelphia could turn around the epidemic.

"Our study showed that transplants with HCV-infected kidneys are now routinely performed at many centers, and they are functioning well at one year after transplant," said study co-leader Peter Reese, MD, MSCE.