Taking Aim at
Zika
“ Since Zika’s appearance in South America last year, the urgent need for research focused on the virus has attracted many of the top virologists and immunologists in the nation. Because of this intensified research effort, significant advances have been made toward understanding the basic questions regarding Zika transmission and pathogenic mechanisms.” — Penghua Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and immunology
Whether in the laboratory, the clinic or the classroom, New York Medical College is doing its part to wage war on the Zika virus. BY ROBERT S. BENCHLEY
A
pproximately 4,000 cases of Zika virus have been reported in the continental United States and Hawaii, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), virtually all of which were acquired through travel to affected areas overseas. Nearly one-quarter of those cases have been reported in New York State, with the vast majority of them in New York City and on Long Island. Zika is exactly the type of public health threat that requires a blend of clinical, research and educational responses, and the experts at New York Medical College
were already taking aim at the virus before it arrived. “The Zika virus involves a typical combination of medical and public health responses,” says Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice, vice president for government affairs, and professor of public health, environmental health science and pediatrics. “A lot of them intersect. First you have the disease that has to be dealt with clinically and the reproductive aspects that affect future generations. Then there is the need for public action and the steps that can be taken New York Medical College
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