Presenter: Gordan Lauc

Title: COVID-19: We Crushed the First Wave. What Next?

Duration: 15 min.
 

Abstract: Croatia is one of the few countries in the world that successfully stopped the first wave of COVID-19 pandemics. Despite proximity of Northern Italy and extensive mobility of people and goods the number of confirmed cases in Croatia flattened at slightly over 2,200. Exponential growth was evidently present in February and early March, but it was efficiently stopped with country-wide lockdown and stringent obligatory measures of social distancing. Success in stopping the COVID-19 pandemics enabled early reopening of the country, but the fact that only a small fraction of the population was exposed to the virus leaves the country vulnerable to the potential second wave of the pandemics. Whether there will be a second wave and how hard will it be depend on multiple factors including potential seasonality of COVID-19, progress with the development of new drugs, therapeutic strategies and/or vaccine.

Biography: Gordan Lauc is the professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Zagreb. In 2017 he initiated the launch of the Human Glycome project and is one of its two co-directors. His research team is pioneering high throughput glycomic analysis and the application of glycan biomarkers in the field of precision medicine. By combining glycomic data with extensive genetic, epigenetic, biochemical and physiological data in a systems biology approach they are trying to understand the role of glycans in normal physiology and disease. Professor Lauc co-authored over 200 research articles that are cited over 4,000 times. In 2007 he founded Genos, a biotech company that is currently global leader in high-throughput glycomics.

Contact:

Gordan Lauc
Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry & Genos Glycoscience Research Laboratory, Zagreb, Croatia
phone: +385 16394467

email: glauc@pharma.hr