Top COVID-19 Research: Timely, Curated and Vetted by Experts
ASM is keeping the pulse of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In the eye of a pandemic, the need for a trusted, up-to-date resource of coronavirus research plays a crucial role in supporting the scientific community on the frontlines fighting the virus.
This registry includes top-ranked, COVID-19 research articles curated by experts and serves as a resource for scientists working together to address fundamental science and accelerate scientific research on SARS-CoV-2.
BASIC VIROLOGY
How is the genome of SARS-CoV-2 evolving? What mechanism does the coronavirus use to target human cells? How does the immune system react to SARS-CoV-2?
CLINICAL DIAGNOSTICS
Will serology provide the ultimate answer? Does the existence of the antibody equal protection due to antibody neutralization? How often should patients be tested?
TREATMENT
What are the results of the newest treatment? What drugs are in the pipeline? What are the latest outcomes from clinical trials?
PREVENTION
What are the different kinds of vaccines? Do coronaviruses evolve to escape vaccines? What have we learned from work with Ebola virus and SARS vaccines development?
EPIDEMIOLOGY
How does a pandemic start? How long will this pandemic last: can data models give us some hints? COVID-19 affects people differently depending on their age, how does this affect transmission? How does social distancing influence transmission rates?
GENERAL REVIEWS
Scientifically speaking, what is a coronavirus? What are the similarities and differences in structure and activities of SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2? What is the PK/PD of Remdesivir?
COVID-19 Research Registry - Editorial Volume 2

The number of published and pre-print articles continues to accelerate over the past 3 months, which has presented some significant challenges. We screened over 2,500 articles each week to select relevant and high-quality papers to populate the registry. This effort is a partnership between ASM staff and my colleagues in the curatorial board and curators team. I cannot thank them enough for their hard work and contributions!
Besides the sheer volume of papers, another challenge is to balance different viewpoints and to present objective and credible science to the scientific community. It is not easy when new findings come out every week and conflicting results appear. Our goal is to collect the best papers and resolve conflicts by keeping ourselves updated with the rapid development of the field. Your suggestions and opinions are welcomed and greatly appreciated.
Starting in Aug., we will add a new activity to the registry. The curatorial board will host a monthly COVID-19 Registry Virtual Journal Club on the third Thursday of each month at 2 p.m. EST. The inaugural event will take place on Thursday, Aug. 20 at 2 p.m. EST. We envision this will be a robust forum to engage the research community and interested learners in scientific discussions, collaborative networking and information sharing on the topic of research and discoveries on SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses. Please mark your calendar. Registration information will be available at the beginning of Aug.
Sincerely,

Biweekly Commentary Letter
Feb. 26, 2021
By C.A.M. (Xander) de Haan, Ph.D., Associate Professor in virus-host interactions at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Dr. de Haan is one of the curators of the registry.
“Intranasal ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222 vaccination reduces shedding of SARS-CoV-2 D614G in rhesus macaques” by van Doremalen, N., et al., published on bioRxiv on Jan. 11, 2021.
Ideally, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines provide sterilizing immunity, meaning that they not only protect against disease, but also prevent replication in the upper respiratory tract and onward transmission. Within 1 year after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, many vaccines targeting this virus are in clinical trials and several have already been approved. These vaccines protect against disease with different efficacies, but not necessarily prevent shedding of virus, as least as determined in non-human primates. This is probably associated with the intramuscular (IM) administration of these vaccines, which results in the induction of systemic IgG antibodies that protect the lungs, but not of mucosal IgA antibodies needed to inhibit replication in the nasal epithelium.
In a study by Neeltje van Doremalen and coworkers, intranasal (IN) and IM administration of the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine was compared in a hamster challenge model. Both administration routes protected hamsters against disease, while IN vaccination resulted in significantly less virus shedding compared to IM vaccination. IN vaccination of rhesus macaques also protected against disease and resulted in systemic immunity comparable to that of IM-vaccinated animals. In addition, IN vaccination elicited SARS-CoV-2-specific mucosal immunity and reduced virus shedding.
Reducing virus replication and interrupting the chain of transmission is important to limit the emergence of variants, against which the currently approved vaccines may be less effective. Emergence of antigenic drift variants may even be accelerated by imperfect vaccines. Currently approved vaccines should therefore be analyzed for their ability to prevent onward transmission, and vaccines that do so should be further developed. In this respect, it is worthwhile to further investigate IN administration of adenovirus-vectored vaccines in a clinical setting.
Educational Resources
Video & Other Curricular Resources for COVID-19

- Scientific panel discussion on the new variant, 501Y.V2.
- “COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 and the Pandemic”.
- Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (AAC) Podcast: Therapeutic approaches for COVID-19: Myths and Facts.
- Science Forum: SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) by the numbers.
- Vaughn Cooper: “The ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2” April 1, 2020 (YouTube11:21).
- Dr. Pamela Bjorkman: Intro to Viruses, Antivirals, and Vaccines April 10, 2020 (YouTube 52:57).
- Scott Page: Understanding Fatality Rate Models April 3, 2020 (YouTube 10:12).
- Minute Physics: "How to tell if we’re beating Covid-19" March 27, 2020 (YouTube 7:15).
- 3 Blue 1 Brown "Simulating an Epidemic" March 27, 2020 (YouTube 2:07).
- Britt Glaunsinger: "Coronaviruses 101, Focus on Molecular Virology" March 25, 2020 (YouTube 1:02:18).
- Vaughn Cooper: "Evolutionary Biology of Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2" March 24, 2020 (YouTube 11:48).
- Pennings and colleagues: "How does SARS-CoV-2 spread?" March 24, 2020 (Vimeo 8:25).
- Nick Jewell "The Exponential Power of Now" March 19, 2020 (YouTube 1:06:00).
- Online Marty: "Disease Spread Simulation" March 18, 2020 (YouTube 2:52).
- Pennings and colleagues: "Coronavirus in numbers" March 11, 2020 (Vimeo 10:18).
- Pennings: "SARS-CoV-2 and phylogenetic trees" March 2, 2020 (Vimeo 14:15).
- University of Pennsylvania: "Coronavirus Outbreak Symposium" April 3, 2020 (YouTube).
- Coursera: Fighting COVID-19 with Epidemiology: A Johns Hopkins Teach-Out (Free Course).
Blogs, Articles and Opinions
- *NEW Audio Interview: The Real-World Effectiveness of Covid-19 Vaccination.
- Audio Interview: Covid-19 in South Africa and a New SARS-CoV-2 Variant.
- COVID-19 Disease Map: a computational knowledge repository of SARS-CoV-2 virus-host interaction mechanisms.
- Pandemic Response: Validating and Sharing Scientific Information.
- Atul Gawande: Amid the Coronavirus Crisis, a Regimen for Re-entry.
- Dougan and Holt: “How to make a new COVID-19 vaccine starting from scratch” April 9, 2020.
Who We Are
Coronavirus experts and ASM staff working together to bring forward the top COVID-19 research studies to the community.
Curatorial Board
Our Core Team and the Curators work daily to curate the best studies for the Registry
Learn MoreHow it Works
Learn about how articles are curated and important information to navigate the Registry.
Learn MoreWhy the Registry?
Check out our story and what we want to accomplish.
Learn More
Email suggestions for research to be highlighted in the COVID-19 Registry.