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Treatment and vaccine research and development during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author: Jennifer McCormick, Ph.D.
Published:

Article Topics: research, treatment, ethics The COVID-19 pandemic has set the stage for research and development of new treatments and vaccines targeting the SARs-COV2 virus. Amidst these discussions, the public may be hearing terms such as “randomized control trials” and “placebo control trials” and may not be certain what the terms mean or why they are important. This post will outline these terms and will discuss some of the ethical implications of placebo control trials in the context of vaccine development. What do these different trials mean in practice? A randomized control trial, also sometimes called a placebo control trial…

Fostering College Students’ Sense of Belonging Amidst COVID-19

Author: Maithreyi Gopalan, Ph.D. , Shannon Brady, Ph.D.
Published:

Article Topics: education, disparities, mental health, psychology, research “When I first arrived at school as a first-generation college student, I didn’t know anyone on campus except my brother. I didn’t know how to pick the right classes or find the right buildings. I didn’t even bring the right size sheets for my dorm room bed. I didn’t realize those beds were so long. So I was a little overwhelmed and a little isolated” -Michelle Obama (2014) Introduction As illustrated in the quote above, the transition to college has always been challenging. Making new friends. Enrolling in the right classes. Responding to critical feedback from professors. Perhaps…

State Responses to COVID-19, State Reputations and Long-Term Economic Health

Author: Michael Nelson , Chris Witko
Published:

Article Topics: economy, employment, research After weeks of stay at home orders or less intense forms of social distancing, most states have either completely reopened their economies or are in the process of phased re-openings. Yet, in some states COVID-19 cases are increasing significantly and experts warn that even in states with clear declines further shut-downs may be necessary to avoid large spikes. The public within a state pays close attention to these decisions and leader or laggard states even receive a lot of attention from people outside of their borders. How does this shape perceptions of state governments and states as…

Covid-19 And Disruptions In Scientific Field Work

Author: Jon M. Nese, Ph.D.
Published:

Article Topics: weather, research Arguably the most well-publicized disruption to higher education resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic was the widespread conversion to remote learning at colleges and universities in March. Indeed, I taught both of my courses from home for seven weeks after spring break. But in addition, much of the activity at a university such as Penn State involves research by faculty and staff, and those efforts have been disrupted as well – particularly work that requires being in the field. In this video, which first aired on May 6, 2020 as part of Penn State's long-running weather magazine show…