Derek Cummings
Professor | University of Florida
Gainesville, FL, UNITED STATES
Derek Cummings’ research on emerging pathogens has included studies of MERS, Ebola and novel influenza.
Biography
Derek Cummings’ research on emerging pathogens has included studies of MERS, Ebola and novel influenza, observing and characterizing transmission dynamics in the early days of outbreaks. Particular areas of focus include speed and patterns of transmission and the natural history of a pathogen. In 2020, Derek contributed to an early transmission model for the novel coronavirus and co-authored a study finding a vaccine effective against a common variant. Prior to coming to UF, Derek and his colleagues collaborated to develop an infectious disease surveillance system for targeting Ebola and other infectious diseases before they proliferate and become serious threats to public health.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Emerging Pathogens
Immunology of Infectious Diseases
Global Health
Ebola
Influenza
Media Appearances (5)
COVID-19 vaccine effective against new variant in Brazil
UF News online
2021-04-09
UF biology professor Derek Cummings, who was hired under the university's preeminence program, also contributed to the study. Both Hitchings and Cummings are affiliated with UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute. “It has been suggested that these new variants might be able to evade immunity generated by other vaccines,” Cummings says. “We need to understand how well CoronaVac will work where P.1 is the dominant virus in circulation.”
Scientists Are Trying to Spot New Viruses Before They Cause Pandemics
The New York Times online
2021-02-15
But serology uncovers things that virus testing does not, said Derek Cummings, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida. With a large database of samples and clinical details, scientists can begin to see patterns emerge in how the immune system responds in someone with no symptoms compared to someone struggling to clear the virus. Serology can also reveal before an outbreak starts whether a population has robust immunity to a given virus, or if it is dangerously low.
Fear over COVID-19 variant grows as L.A. County mulls closing malls, gyms
Los Angeles Times online
2021-01-15
“We’re losing the race with coronavirus — it’s infecting people much faster than we can get vaccine into people’s arms, and it’s overcoming our social distancing,” said University of Florida biologist Derek Cummings, an expert in emerging pathogens. “Now there’s this variant that will make that race even harder.”
New evidence that U.K. coronavirus variant spreads more easily has scientists really worried
Los Angeles Times online
2021-01-10
“We’re losing the race with coronavirus — it’s infecting people much faster than we can get vaccine into people’s arms, and it’s overcoming our social distancing,” said University of Florida biologist Derek Cummings, an expert in emerging pathogens. “Now there’s this variant that will make that race even harder.”
More people are getting COVID-19 twice, suggesting immunity wanes quickly in some
Science online
2020-11-18
Scientists are keenly interested in cases like hers, which are still rare but on the rise. Reinfections hint that immunity against COVID-19 may be fragile and wane relatively quickly, with implications not just for the risks facing recovered patients, but also for how long future vaccines might protect people. “The question everybody wants to answer is: Is that second one going to be less severe most of the time or not?” says Derek Cummings, who studies infectious disease dynamics at the University of Florida. “And what do reinfections teach us about SARS-CoV-2 immunity in general?”
Articles (5)
Factors associated with clinical severity in emergency department patients presenting with symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection
Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians OpenSophia Newton, et al.
2021-06-29
To measure the association of race, ethnicity, comorbidities, and insurance status with need for hospitalization of symptomatic emergency department patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
Novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV (COVID-19): early estimation of epidemiological parameters and epidemic size estimates
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society BJonathan M. Read, et al.
2021-05-31
Since it was first identified, the epidemic scale of the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Wuhan, China, has increased rapidly, with cases arising across China and other countries and regions. Using a transmission model, we estimate a basic reproductive number of 3.11 (95% CI, 2.39–4.13), indicating that 58–76% of transmissions must be prevented to stop increasing. We also estimate a case ascertainment rate in Wuhan of 5.0% (95% CI, 3.6–7.4).
Influenza and other respiratory viral infections associated with absence from school among schoolchildren in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA: a cohort study
BMC Infectious DiseasesJonathan M. Read, et al.
2021-03-22
Information on the etiology and age-specific burden of respiratory viral infections among school-aged children remains limited. Though school aged children are often recognized as driving the transmission of influenza as well as other respiratory viruses, little detailed information is available on the distribution of respiratory infections among children of different ages within this group.
Outpatient Healthcare Personnel Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Infection Prevention Measures for Protection from Respiratory Infections
American Journal of Infection ControlMary T. Bessesen, et al.
2021-10-22
Healthcare personnel (HCP) knowledge and attitudes toward infection control measures are important determinants of practices that can protect them from transmission of infectious diseases.
Evaluation of the extended efficacy of the Dengvaxia vaccine against symptomatic and subclinical dengue infection
Nature MedicineHenrik Salje, et al.
2021-06-24
More than half of the world’s population lives in areas at risk for dengue virus infection. A vaccine will be pivotal to controlling spread, however, the only licensed vaccine, Dengvaxia, has been shown to increase the risk of severe disease in a subset of individuals. Vaccine efforts are hampered by a poor understanding of antibody responses, including those generated by vaccines, and whether antibody titers can be used as a marker of protection from infection or disease.
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