Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Feature Writer

B.Sc. Integrative Neuroscience, M.Sc. Psychology

Jocelyn Solis-Moreira graduated with a Bachelor's in Integrative Neuroscience, where she then pursued graduate research looking at the long-term effects of adolescent binge drinking on the brain's neurochemistry in adulthood. She is adept at translating and summarizing complex study findings in all medical fields with a particular interest in neurodegenerative diseases, cancer research, infectious diseases, and public health. As a freelance writer, her work spans from news articles and feature articles to evergreen explainers across many publications. Her overall goal is to make science accessible for all.

Articles from Jocelyn

Tapeworm infection drug blocks SARS-CoV-2 damage in the lungs

New research published in the journal Nature found the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the lungs resulted in abnormal pneumocytes and spike protein-mediated cell fusion. Their findings also showed that TMEM16F protein activation induces cell fusion. Therefore, drugs inhibiting the TMEM16F/Anoctamin6 calcium-activated ion channel, such as niclosamide, could serve as potential treatments for reducing the severity of COVID-19 infection.

12 Apr 2021

COVID19's cytokine storm ushers in a local complement storm in the lungs

A new study published in the journal Science Immunology analyzed lung epithelial cells from patients infected with COVID-19 and found the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) induces the complement system as a dangerous weapon for viral infection.

12 Apr 2021

Lung microbiome predicts COVID-19 disease severity

A new preprint research paper posted to the medRxiv* server found changes to the lung microbiome during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection influence COVID-19 disease severity.

12 Apr 2021

L452R and Y453F SARS-CoV-2 mutations increase transmission and evade immunity

Mutations from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have created multiple variants. Some variants, such as those found in South Africa and Brazil, have caused concern for their potential to evade the immune response. While vaccination efforts are underway, the world is racing against the viruses’ ability to evolve under selective pressure.

11 Apr 2021

Pregnant women transmit SARS-CoV-2 and vaccine-induced antibodies to fetus

Pregnant women are at high risk for severe COVID-19 infection and death. Yet, insufficient safety data on babies has led many guidelines to leave the decision-making and potential threats to future mothers. While the vaccine trials did not directly test pregnant women, more real-world data suggests the vaccine may provide immunity benefits to newborns through breastmilk.

11 Apr 2021

Autoantibodies may contribute to severe COVID-19 and potential long-COVID-19 symptoms

New research in the USA and China. investigated how autoantibodies could mediate NETs during a COVID-19 infection. Extensive damage to the body from neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) after infection may be contributing to thromboinflammation and the symptoms experienced by COVID-19 ‘long-haulers’.

8 Apr 2021

Bispecific antibodies neutralize SARS-CoV-2 and its variants

A new bioRxiv preprint study led by Joshua Tan from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, involves generating bispecific antibodies using a new method cross-linking the antibodies with adjacent spike proteins using dual N-terminal domain/receptor binding domain specificity.

7 Apr 2021

Evidence of monoclonal antibodies effectively neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 variants

Makdasi et al. The neutralization potency of anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies is retained against novel viral variants. bioRxiv, 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.01.438035, https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.04.01.438035v2

7 Apr 2021

RNA-binding cylinders inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro

Research led by Michael J. Hannon from the University of Birmingham, UK, finds metallo-supramolecular helicates (cylinders) binding to untranslated regions of SARS-CoV-2 suppresses viral replication. The untranslated regions (UTR) of the viral genome could serve as drug targets for antiviral treatment.

5 Apr 2021