MassBio Town Hall w/ Special Guests from Tufts Medical Center on Efforts to Repurpose a Common Anti-Viral to Treat COVID

May 26, 2020 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM

Webinar, click "live-stream" button to view

Add to Calendar 5/26/2020 11:00:00 AM 5/26/2020 11:30:00 AM MassBio Town Hall w/ Special Guests from Tufts Medical Center on Efforts to Repurpose a Common Anti-Viral to Treat COVID

MassBio’s President & CEO, Bob Coughlin, will host a weekly virtual Town Hall for members, taking place every Tuesday at 11am. This will be an opportunity for our members to ask questions, hear what MassBio is up to, and learn more about the state of the industry amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For this Town Hall, Bob will be joined by special guests Dr. Harry Selker & Kirthana Beaulac from Tufts Medical Center who will discuss their work trying to repurpose an existing anti-viral drug, niclosamide, to fight COVID-19. They will share insights around:

  • How the idea of using niclosamide as an anti-viral to treat COVID-19 came about
  • The benefits of niclosamide compared to other drugs being considered for COVID 
  • The role academic medical centers play in the fight against COVID and in addressing all of the other unmet medical needs out there
  • How the partnership between academia, industry, and government has evolved over the years


Webinar link will be emailed to participants the day before - you can also access it from the "Live Stream" tab below. This event is for members-only. 

NOTE: MassBio makes every effort to accommodate our entire community at each of our events. Please let us know at least 3 days in advance of the event if you require special accommodations, such as captioning.

 Webinar, click "live-stream" button to view
Clinical Pharmacist at Tufts Medical Center
Kirthana “Kira” Beaulac is a clinical pharmacist at Tufts Medical Center. She received her PharmD at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and completed post-doctoral training at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA and Hartford Hospital in Hartford, CT. She is a Board-Certified Infectious Diseases Pharmacist and serves as the co-director of the Antimicrobial Management Team at Tufts Medical Center, which has been recognized as an Antibiotic Stewardship Center of Excellence. She holds the title of Assistant Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and serves as a preceptor and mentor for pharmacy students at Northeastern University and PA students at Tufts University. Her research interests are in optimizing antibiotic choice and duration, and plans to bring her expertise and unique perspective to a multi-disciplinary approach to the treatment of COVID-19.