Join Dr. Paul Currier and Dr. Mark Poznansky in exploring the real life stories from the COVID ward of MGH. Hear their harrowing stories of those that miraculously made it through and those that lost their fight to this horrible infectious disease. While this program features the first-hand experiences of two particular doctors, it honors and thanks all the first responders who have put their own lives on the line countless times to help strangers in need.
Sponsored by Jason Weiner and Nicole Zatlyn, the Vilna Shul Lifesavers Speaker Series invites you to engage deeply with global thinkers, influencers and philanthropists championing social justice and positive change. These unique, intimate conversations profoundly touch those present by providing behind-the-scenes opportunities to engage with leaders that are tackling important, global issues in science, art, religion, business and politics.
Dr. Mark Poznansky is a medical innovator whose work bridges academic discovery and clinical care. As a leader in the field of leukocyte migration and the modulation of leukocyte trafficking and function, he has linked discovery with the development of new vaccines and immunotherapies for infectious diseases including COVID-19, cancer and immune mediated diseases including type 1 diabetes. Dr. Poznansky has gained recognition for establishing a new model for translational research that accelerates the process by which basic biological discoveries move towards products and technologies that improve patient care and treatment. Since 2008 he has served as the founder and director of the Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center (VIC) at MGH, which is putting this model into practice. The goal of VIC is to enable efficient and rapid transition of promising technologies through preclinical development and into the clinical stage of development through technology spin outs, partnerships or out-licensing. He oversees the research work of a team of investigators, postdoctoral fellows and other trainees addressing key research questions regarding these new therapeutics and vaccines and leads an operational team that facilitates the execution of business, regulatory, manufacturing, and other developmental tasks associated with the preclinical translation of these candidates. VIC currently has 9 vaccines and immunotherapies in development, including a new self-assembling T cell targeted COVID-19 vaccine. Four of these technologies have recently reached large animal preclinical or first in human testing. The team at VIC has also developed a novel high dimensional immunology program that uses state of the art omics technologies to define broad immune profiles in cancer, infectious and immune mediated diseases to inform diagnosis, clinical decision making and vaccine and immunotherapy design. Dr. Poznansky is the scientific founder of Celtaxys, ACTx, Vicapsys, Aperisys and Voltron Therapeutics.
Dr. Paul Currier is an intensive care and pulmonary physician at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He cared for the first patient admitted with COVID-19 in the MGH Intensive Care Unit in March, 2020 and has worked throughout the pandemic caring for critically ill patients. He is the Director of the Respiratory Acute Care Unit at MGH. Paul’s research interests include communication with patients and their families and the intersection between quality, safety, and teaching and learning in medicine. He is the Director of Simulation and Experiential Learning for the Department of Medicine at MGH. This program uses deliberate practice to train physicians in how to manage clinical events and safely perform procedures. They also focus on team building and teaching communication skills. During the pandemic, Paul has worked on developing COVID-19 testing booths and mobile trailers to improve the safety of testing and reduce the use of PPE.