Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson give big boost to UCLA COVID-19 research

It ’s not often that a public health study gets a major visibility boost from a Hollywood power couple. But these are no ordinary times, UCLA’s COVID-19 researchers are no ordinary scientists, and Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are no ordinary power couple.Throughout the pandemic, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health epidemiologistAnne Rimoin has shared her expertise as a frequent guest on MSNBC ’s news commentary program, “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams.” After one of those appearances, Rimoin said, Williams contacted her to ask if he could connect her with “some friends” who had watched the show that night. She said yes.Those friends turned out to be Hanks, the two-time Oscar winner, and Wilson, the actor-producer-singer-songwriter.“They wanted to learn what they could do to help as COVID survivors,” Rimoin said. “They had lots of questions. I let them know what we were doing at UCLA, and they were very interested and wanted to participate.”What Rimoin and her team — co-principal investigatorDr. Grace Aldrovandi of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, postdoctoral scholar Adva Gadoth and doctoral student Megan Halbrook — are doing is leading theUCLA COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative. The study is providing testing, antibody screening and mental health services for health care workers and first responders.Although Hanks and Wilson couldn ’t participate directly in Rimoin’s study, they made it clear that they wanted to lend their support....
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news