In this talk I will address the confluence of a pandemic with climate change and the results of deforestation, with a perspective of a scientist from the Amazon Region as a spokesperson. I will explore my role as part of COVID-19 Response Committee of the Federal University and the interactions with M.Ds. who are in the forefront of treating the pandemic in Acre. Then, I will present the successful collaboration we set with the Public Ministry of Acre to use the Internet-of-Things to expand a network of inexpensive air quality sensors that have proven to be very useful to document the extension and human exposure to high levels of smoke. I will also present some examples of the analysis of near real-time imagery of fires and deforestation in the region. Finally, I will focus on what we can do and the role of science and education to tackle this multi-hazard crisis.

This Keystone Symposia SciTalk was made possible in collaboration with:

The loss and degradation of natural vegetation due to the expansion of human activities has led to a number of environmental impacts, including a greater spread of zoonoses. The reduction in the capacity of human-altered landscapes to control the spread of diseases can be linked to different factors, such as expansion of areas suitable for hosts or reservoirs, greater proximity of these areas to living areas, greater facility for displacement of both vectors and people, among others. Understanding these processes and identifying the main regulatory factor is crucial to take action and reverse this situation. Here, we will present an ecosystem model of zoonoses regulation that can help to implement nature-based solutions for the control or prevention of zoonoses and exemplify the use of this model with a case study of hantavirus in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

This Keystone Symposia SciTalk was made possible in collaboration with:

[SPANISH VERSION] The Galapagos Islands represent one of the most iconic and well-conserved hotspots of biodiversity in the world. However, this unique volcanic archipelago is facing a growing number of threats caused by multiple anthropogenic and climatic drivers of change, being the most recent the COVID-19 virus. Such global-scale perturbation has impacted the economy and lifestyle of a population of 30 000 residents, causing the most severe economic crisis in the history of the Galapagos. This SciTalk explores how fishers and seafood consumers have coped with the COVID-19 crisis, how Galapagos seafood security and seafood consumption patterns have been affected, and how the pandemic can represent an opportunity to improve the adaptive capacity of the small-scale fishing sector from the Galapagos Marine Reserve against future crises, including climate change. Based on this knowledge, we propose a set of adaptation and transformation pathways to sustain small-scale fisheries, conserve marine biodiversity, and support human wellbeing into the future.

This Keystone Symposia SciTalk was made possible in collaboration with:

[ENGLISH VERSION] The Galapagos Islands represent one of the most iconic and well-conserved hotspots of biodiversity in the world. However, this unique volcanic archipelago is facing a growing number of threats caused by multiple anthropogenic and climatic drivers of change, being the most recent the COVID-19 virus. Such global-scale perturbation has impacted the economy and lifestyle of a population of 30 000 residents, causing the most severe economic crisis in the history of the Galapagos. This SciTalk explores how fishers and seafood consumers have coped with the COVID-19 crisis, how Galapagos seafood security and seafood consumption patterns have been affected, and how the pandemic can represent an opportunity to improve the adaptive capacity of the small-scale fishing sector from the Galapagos Marine Reserve against future crises, including climate change. Based on this knowledge, we propose a set of adaptation and transformation pathways to sustain small-scale fisheries, conserve marine biodiversity, and support human wellbeing into the future.

This Keystone Symposia SciTalk was made possible in collaboration with:

Despite having received FDA approval for treatment of Covid-19, antiviral remdesivir is only moderately efficacious against SARS-CoV-2 in the clinic, and improved treatment strategies are urgently needed. To accomplish this goal, we devised a strategy to identify compounds that act synergistically with remdesivir in preventing SARS-CoV-2 replication. We conducted combinatorial high-throughput screening in the presence of submaximal remdesivir concentrations, using a human lung epithelial cell line infected with a clinical isolate of SARS-CoV-2. We identified 20 approved drugs that act synergistically with remdesivir, many with favorable pharmacokinetic and safety profiles. Strongest effects were observed with established antivirals, Hepatitis C virus nonstructural protein 5 A (HCV NS5A) inhibitors velpatasvir and elbasvir. Combination with their partner drugs sofosbuvir and grazoprevir further increased efficacy, increasing remdesivir’s apparent potency 25-fold. We therefore suggest that the FDA-approved Hepatitis C therapeutics Epclusa (velpatasvir/sofosbuvir) and Zepatier (elbasvir/grazoprevir) should be fast-tracked for clinical evaluation in combination with remdesivir to improve treatment of acute SARS-CoV-2 infections.