Presented by:
Farzad Fatehi Chenar
Date:
Tuesday 7th July 2020 - 15:00 to 15:30
Venue:
INI Seminar Room 2
Abstract:
The
SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has infected over ten million, and killed over 500,000,
individuals worldwide, making the development of antiviral treatments against
this virus a priority. Recent studies have identified Remdesivir as an
effective antiviral treatment option for COVID-19. I will present a new
stochastic agent based model for the intracellular dynamics of a SARS-CoV-2
infection that includes details on all essential steps of a viral life cycle,
from viral entry to virion release. Using this model, I evaluate the effect of
Remdesivir on the production of new virions. In a next step, I propose an
intercellular model to study the viral dynamics within the body of an infected
patient. The intercellular model is fitted to data recording the progress of viral
load in 12 patients with COVID-19, showing how differing strengths of immune
response can explain the variety of infection spans seen in patients. Coupling
the intra- and intercellular models allows for a comparative analysis of
Remdesivir therapy for patients with different types of immune response.
