Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, left, Director of the Precision Immunology Institute, with Adeeb Rahman, PhD, Director of the Human Immune Monitoring Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Under the leadership of Miriam Merad, MD, PhD, immunologists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have created a quick test that monitors a patient’s inflammatory response to COVID-19, and also helped launch a clinical trial that uses the drug sarilumab to manage this response. In trying to fight the COVID-19 virus, the immune system may mount a major response, which can lead to excess inflammation and in severe cases, fatality. The test enables frequent monitoring of patients at risk, potentially guiding treatment.