Media Tip Sheet: University of Richmond Faculty Experts Available to Discuss Antivirals, Disease Ecology, and Modeling Infection Spread

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND —  As you continue your coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, consider these University of Richmond faculty experts.

Eugene Wu on antivirals
Biology professor Eugene Wu studies viruses and can comment on potential antivirals that could work against this year's virus. Wu says with the need of life-saving treatments for the thousands of infected persons around the world, there is not time to wait for a new drug that would take years to reach the market. He says we must consider existing drugs that may successfully treat coronavirus.

Jory Brinkerhoff on disease spread
Jory Brinkerhoff, a biology professor and disease ecologist, has studied infectious diseases from a variety of angles. Brinkerhoff can speak to superspreaders, an individual who is unusually contagious and more likely to infect others, and the reproductive number (aka "R" Number), the transmission potential of a disease.

Lester Caudill on modeling infection spread
Math professor Lester Caudill is an expert in biomedical applications of mathematics, specifically models of infection spread. Caudill says math can be particularly helpful for the "what if" scenarios, especially when trying to predict the impacts of different intervention strategies. He can also speak to the historical perspective.

Additional experts are highlighted on this expert guide related to COVID-19.

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Contact Sunni Brown, director of media and public relations at the University of Richmond, to connect with these experts.