Update on COVID-19 Vaccines and Immunity

Community Physicians Webinar Series Covers the topic of Vaccines and the COVID-19 Pandemic

January 11, 2021

On Sunday, October 25, Magdalena E. Sobieszczyk, MD, MPH Professor of Medicine Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, and Attending Physician at NewYork-Presbyterian spoke to local medical providers on the topic of vaccines and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The presentation was part of the Community Physicians Webinar Series organized by NewYork-Presbyterian (NYP) and Columbia University Medical Center (CUIMC) in collaboration with the Dominican Medical Association (DMA). Under the leadership of Mara Minguez, MD, MSc, Assistant Chief Medical Officer for Community Affairs at NewYork- Presbyterian Hospital and Rafael Lantigua, MD, Associate Dean for Community Service at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, the series is not only part of the commitment of CUIMC and NYP to work together with community, but it is also part of a wider collaborative effort to improve overall health outcomes in northern Manhattan.

Titled: Update on COVID-19 Vaccines and Immunity, Dr. Sobieszczyk shared experimental and clinical data on COVID-19 models and discussed the primary objectives of vaccines trials. She took time to address issues surrounding the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of the most promising vaccines currently under trial. In addition to providing information regarding developments in the private sector, Dr. Sobieszczyk highlighted the critical research and work conducted by the National Institutes of Health’s COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network.

Dr. Sobieszczyk is no stranger to disease and global pandemics. She is an infectious disease specialist and a clinical virologist who studies HIV prevention and HIV vaccines. Her research focuses particularly on women, Blacks and Latinos- communities highly impacted by HIV yet, underrepresented in prevention care and research. Much of her work examines and addresses disparities in uptake and adherence to HIV prevention modalities, like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

Since the start if the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, Dr. Sobieszczyk’s has overseen the implementation of COVID-19 clinical management guidelines. She has also led studies on prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. As the work to address the pandemic continues, Dr. Sobieszczyk’s established and continues to study, antibody responses and re-infection among health care workers at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

A recording of the webinar is available to view  here.

To learn more about the series, click here.