Why We Created This Site
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented challenge to nearly every society across the world. The pernicious virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, has devastated communities, halted economies, strained healthcare systems, and left us all with massive uncertainties about the future. Despite these troubling realities, we are encouraged by how this tremendous challenge has been confronted by the full force of the global scientific and medical communities. An unparalleled level of targeted research and development towards combatting COVID-19 is underway, involving countless disciplines such as epidemiology, virology, pathology, immunology, biomedical engineering, infection prevention and control, cardiology, pulmonology, neurology, internal medicine, emergency medicine, critical care medicine, vaccine development, pharmaceutical sciences, and many more.
However, this research is rapidly evolving, enormous in scale, and often difficult to parse. Hypotheses, theories, conclusions, and potential solutions frequently emerge only to be modified, confirmed, contradicted, or rejected shortly thereafter. As the evidence base grows and continues to evolve, it can be quite problematic for interested individuals to prioritize information and remain up to date.
The goal of this website is to curate, simplify, and update the most current and impactful information relating to treatment guidelines, as well as ongoing clinical trials of vaccines and pharmaceuticals. To this end, we will post brief summaries of major updates alongside external web links to the primary source material.
Who We Are
Firuz Feturi
Firuz Feturi, B. Pharm, PhD is a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Transplant Surgery, and Clinical Pharmacokinetic Laboratory.
Firuz graduated from the University of Tripoli with a BS in Pharmacy (2006-2007), then completed her PhD in Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences track under the tutelage of Dr. Raman Venkataramanan at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. The goal of her research is optimizing drug therapy in organ transplant patients through understanding pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Firuz’s dissertation focuses on VCA immunobiology and developing novel immune-therapeutic approaches, and to reduce complications of systemic immunosuppression with site-specific immunosuppression strategies.
Firuz is a Fellow of the American Society of Transplantation and American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. She is committed to the advancement of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences both through research and teaching.
Mohamed Kashkoush
Mohamed Kashkoush, BS is a PharmD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2017 with a BS in Industrial Engineering and a graduate certificate in Health Systems Engineering.
Mohamed’s public health interests include antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship, opioid prescribing, and naloxone distribution programs. Mohamed is passionate about life science and digital health innovations that advance pharmaceutical care through the 21st century.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamed-kashkoush-775814103