Meet Laura Riva, Ph.D. and Laura Martin-Sancho, Ph.D., two postdocs with special training which allows them to work directly with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. They're members of the Chanda Lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, working around the clock as part of an international team of scientists trying to find a drug to treat COVID-19.

The Chanda Lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute is racing to screen 13,000 compounds—already tested in humans—to find a drug that can slow or stop SARS-CoV-2. If successful, this approach is likely the fastest path to a treatment for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). The effort is part of an international collaboration to respond to this public health crisis.

Professor Sumit Chanda is an infectious disease expert and immunologist, where he works both in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology and at Calibr, Scripps Research’s nonprofit drug discovery and development division. He has devoted his career to understanding how the immune system responds to numerous viruses, such as influenza, Dengue virus and SARS-CoV-2. Listen as we discuss everything from pandemic preparedness to drug discovery, as well as his unrelenting drive to uncover new treatment options—including for COVID-19. Show notes: Full episode and more https://www.scripps.edu/podcast Episode transcript https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:6530c388-9603-3795-ba79-5473e7144d3a Infectious disease sleuth Sumit Chanda, PhD, joins Scripps Research and its Calibr drug discovery division https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2021/20210915-chanda-calibr.html Center for Antiviral Medicines & Pandemic Preparedness https://www.campp.org/ Chanda lab website https://linktr.ee/thechandalab Twitter @thechandalab Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thechandalab/?hl=en

Read more about Dr. Chanda, his lab, and their research: https://www.modelmedicines.com/newsroom/sumit-chanda-01 Model Medicines recently partnered with the Chanda Lab at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute to discover and develop new treatments for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Read more about the collaboration here: https://www.modelmedicines.com/newsroom/sanford-burnham-prebys-partnership Featuring: Sumit Chanda, Ph.D. Director of the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute Daniel Haders II, Ph.D. Executive Chairman at Model Medicines