Qatar University’s (QU) ‘Emergent Materials Journal’, a leading journal, organised a special scientific webinar titled, ‘Materials against Covid-19: How Materials Science Can Impact the Pandemic,’ recently via WebEx.
The webinar was sponsored by QU, University of Houston and Georgia Institute of Technology.
The webinar aimed to gather scientists, clinicians and industry experts working on Covid-19, QU said in a statement. The focus of the event was a variety of material science applications for detection, prevention and treatment of Covid-19 and related complications.
The webinar included speakers from several universities, such as Prof Dimitrios Lamprou from Queen’s University Belfast, who talked about ‘3D printing within the fight against pandemics’; Prof Xinyu Liu from University of Toronto, who presented on “Fighting Covid-19: microfluidic biosensors for viral and serological testing’; Dr Zach Ballard from University of California, Los Angeles/CEO of Hana Diagnostics, who spoke on the topic ‘Computational sensing approaches to serology and implications for Covid-19 testing’; and Prof Elizabeth Wayne from Carnegie Mellon University, who talked on the topic ‘Macrophage engineering and biomaterials to modulate macrophage polarisation’.
The host speakers were Dr Huseyin C Yalcin, associate professor, Biomedical Research Centre, QU; Prof Carson Meredith, School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology; Prof Kaitlyn Sadtler, PhD, section chief for Immuno-Engineering, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health, US; and Dr Aboubakr M Abdullah Ali, associate professor, Centre for Advanced Materials, QU.
The webinar was also aimed at promoting the current Covid-19 special issue of ‘Emergent Materials Journal’.
The journal was established in 2018 as a joint effort between QU and Springer. Since its establishment, it has been acknowledged and recognised as an important materials science journal and, as a result, it has been indexed in major databases such as Web of Science, the statement noted.
Prof Mariam al-Maadeed, vice-president for Research and Graduate Studies at QU, said: “The global battle against the pandemic is being carried out on the frontlines by healthcare providers. However, as there is no cure or effective therapy, another major effort is underway by scientists and engineers in research labs around the globe. Researchers are seeking fast, practical and effective ways to support healthcare providers in treating patients and prevent or slow further spread of the virus.
“Qatar University is no exception here and we are carrying out multiple pioneering research in our labs. In this race against time, materials science is one of the fields that is contributing significantly due to a substantial cumulative knowledge that can be translated rapidly into clinical practice. With this webinar, we aimed to bring together leading scientists in the world working on novel materials science applications relevant to Covid-19. We will continue our efforts to promote and support science and knowledge in Qatar and globally.”
Webinar organiser Dr Yalcin added, “Materials science is a key field with great potential for the detection, prevention and treatment of Covid-19. Novel material approaches can be used for multiple applications such as accurate diagnosis of viral infection from patient samples, sanitising or preventing viral accumulation on surfaces, alternative sources and sanitation for personal protective equipment, effective delivery and binding of antiviral agents to the virus, reprogramming of the immune system, and even injectable synthetic compounds to compete with the virus in binding to viral receptors. This new knowledge needs to be communicated effectively with other talented and courageous minds to win this battle against the pandemic.”
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