Pandemic spurs a research bonanza

In April 2020, C.W. David Chang, professor of otolaryngology, was among the first researchers to assess loss of smell as a symptom of the novel coronavirus. In March, colleague and neurologist Adnan I. Qureshi showed COVID-19 patients with stroke were more likely to need long-term care. Mizzou immunology Professor Marc Johnson got national headlines for examining wastewater as an accurate predictor of viral spread.

These are just three of the whopping 186 COVID-related articles in the PubMed global database that have at least one author from the MU School of Medicine. “It’s overwhelming,” says health sciences librarian E. Diane Johnson. “I have been a librarian for decades, and I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Along with the new work coming from campus, many older papers co-authored by MU researchers have also been cited in pandemic-driven studies. “I call them sleeping beauties,” Johnson says. “So many COVID projects are informed by research from right here at the School of Medicine. It’s great to see the worldwide attention.”

This story originally appeared in Show Me Mizzou Magazine on Dec. 17, 2021.