278 - COVID-19 Research Update: Obesity and COVID-19

In this episode, Dr. Josh Sharfstein talks with Hopkins researchers who break down three research papers looking at the relationship between obesity and COVID-19. Lauren Peetluk, a graduate student from Vanderbilt University, talks about a study published early in the pandemic looking at obesity and mortality from COVID-19. Dr. Sabina Haberlen talks about a CDC paper on the relationship between BMI and COVID-19 severity and death. Dr. Nikolas Wada talks about a paper that teases out the relationship between obesity and COVID from other possible factors like diabetes and coronary artery disease. All three researchers are part of the Hopkins novel coronavirus research consortium, with many summaries of new studies available at http://ncrc.jhsph.edu. KEYWORDS: vaccine distribution; comorbidities