Virtual Seminar - Dr. J. David Beckham
An Update on the SARS-CoV2 pandemic: drinking from the firehose of information
The goals for this lecture will be to:
• Understand the history of coronavirus outbreaks
• Understand some of the basic virology and immune responses to SARS viruses
• Learn about the current epidemiology and control measures for SARS-CoV2
About the speaker
Dr. Beckham is Associate Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Immunology & Microbiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center.
Dr. Beckham’s research lab studies immune responses to RNA viruses with a specific focus on flaviviruses like Zika virus, West Nile virus, and dengue virus. The laboratory currently has projects funded to study flavivirus vaccine approaches, the immunology of pregnancy during acute RNA virus infection, and studies innate and adaptive immune responses in the central nervous system which have extended into research in the field of Parkinson’s Disease. The laboratory has several translational research studies to examine the immune response to acute viral infections in humans, and the lab has recently expanded this work by extending the existing BSL3 laboratory program to study antibody responses in patients with acute infection from SARS-CoV2 in the region.
Outside of the research lab, Dr. Beckham is also a regular member of the NIH Study Section Microbiology and Infectious Diseases B Subcommittee and is extensively involved in graduate education in the graduate and medical schools in Colorado. In 2014, he developed a NeuroID program at the University of Colorado Hospital that focuses on advanced care of patients with complex neurologic infections and neuroinflammatory diseases.
