Coronavirus

Nuala Meyer of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about a study that explored how a dysfunctional immune response might shape a person’s physical reaction to COVID-19. “There was no perfect correlation between immunotype and severe disease,” she said.

Gilles Duranton of the Wharton School spoke about potential changes to major cities given the pandemic’s influence on work-from-home policies. Cities like New York might change for the better and become more diverse and affordable as high-income workers flee the city, he said. “New York was running into a dead end, turning into a paradise for the rich,” he said.

Ioana Marinescu of the School of Social Policy & Practice spoke about the pandemic’s effects on the economies of major U.S. cities. “Los Angeles, sadly, is going through a new health crisis,” she said. “New York isn’t. And yet, the unemployment numbers are still so bad. That shows to me how scarring the effects of the coronavirus are.”

David Abrams of the Law School and Wharton School spoke about how crime rates have shifted amid the pandemic. "People have reacted to the pandemic in all sorts of ways in decreasing economic activity," he said. "They stopped going to work, they stopped driving their car. They stopped walking around the city, and crime also stopped."

Lawrence Shulman of the Perelman School of Medicine says declining numbers of new cancer diagnoses over the past four months don’t mean fewer people actually have cancer. “There are a lot of patients out there who have cancer but are not undergoing diagnosis and entry into the cancer care system,” he said.

Phil Cochetti of the Perelman School of Medicine has been participating in online debates about COVID-19 in an attempt to promote scientifically accurate information about the pandemic. His efforts are “a way to vent my own anxiety about what’s going on and hopefully to change some minds about the root of what we need to do next,” he said.