Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, researchers around the world have been working to develop a rapid diagnostic approach to test for the highly infectious Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Research is now underway at NYMC to validate a novel rapid diagnostic approach to track the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and diagnose COVID-19 using a colorimetric reverse transcription loopmediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) that will provide accurate detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA within 30 minutes. Read the full article on the rapid COVID-19 test.

As the director of the Biomedical Ethics and Humanities Program, Ira J. Bedzow, Ph.D, is focused on providing students with a strong theoretical background in medical ethics so they will be equipped to act on their values in situations of ethical conflict. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic--wherein physicians in viral hotspots continue to be tasked with choosing who gets access to lifesaving ventilators and hospital beds, and who does not--Dr. Bedzow penned a roadmap for their journey to becoming tomorrow's doctors in his Open Letter To Medical Students On The Road Ahead To Becoming Professional Physicians. "In writing this open letter in Forbes, I hoped to communicate to medical students the importance of possessing a strong set of values--both personal and professional--and taking the time to learn how to act on them successfully in the coming years," said Dr. Bedzow. "If this period of great disruption has taught us nothing else, it has taught us the importance of speaking up and acting in ways that improve the world, not simply critiquing it."