The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted, among other challenges, the need to efficiently assess the strength, quality, and character of the human immune response SARS-CoV-2 and its vaccines. Debates are still ongoing about the extent to which antibody versus T cell mediated immunity may play a role in protection in the short and long term. These questions and challenges echo in many ways the questions that immunoengineers face when designing novel treatment strategies and biomaterial modulators for any disease – how best to assess and quantify the complex immune response?
In this Society for Biomaterials webinar, we will hear first from Dr. Kaitlyn Sadtler (NIH/NIBIB) on her team’s development of a well-validated assay for serum antibodies, and the results from a nationwide study of COVID-19 seropositivity in volunteer participants. Next, we will hear from Dr. Krishnendu Roy (GA Tech) on the roles of T cells in immunity and the analytical tools best suited to study that role, especially in the context of COVID-19. Plan to participate in an exciting open discussion about the challenges and opportunities in this space.