There is an urgent need to find new treatments that complement the use of vaccines and antiviral drugs to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our interdisciplinary research team uncovered evidence that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive compound produced by cannabis plants, has the potential to inhibit SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID.

Earth began with an atmosphere similar to that of Venus. While Venus continues to have a hellish surface, Earth turned into a habitable world within just 100-200 million years. How was that possible? We proposed a scenario using theoretical modeling, where a peculiar type of rock that is currently extinct on Earth could have triggered such a radical change.

Following a series of high-profile cases of police harassment and violence, police reform has become a growing national concern in the U.S. We evaluate one reform effort, training police to treat people more fairly in hot spots of crime. We find training significantly improves officer behavior and citizen perceptions of police misbehavior while reducing arrests and crime.

Why do symmetric and regular shapes abound in biology? Using arguments based on algorithmic information theory, we explain why a preference for simple shapes often occurs in biological systems. Our theory is validated via predicting the shape frequencies for naturally occurring protein assemblies, non-coding RNAs, self-assembled tile shapes, and a cell cycle mathematical model.  

There are several deadly viruses in the ebola virus family, but current antibody treatments are effective against only one. Our work discovered two antibodies from human survivors, and their benefit when combined together in a cocktail, to provide broader protection at a lower dose. We reveal surprising findings of how they act to achieve protection.

Nosocomial infection has become a serious global challenge in modern healthcare facilities due to the persistence of superbugs. To survive in highly sanitized hospitals, superbugs produce beneficial substances such as mannitol to sustain their growth. We uncovered that a mannitol-producing protein is vital to help the bugs persist in salty and dry conditions, and may be the key to their demise.