Press release from UNMC Strategic Communications February 16, 2021.

COVID-19 and the heart focus of Science Café 

To ensure social distancing, Feb. 23 event will be offered via Facebook Live.

Daniel Anderson, MD, PhD, associate professor and chief of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, will discuss the effects of COVID-19 on the heart during the Feb. 23 Science Cafe.  

To ensure social distancing, the Science Café will be offered via Facebook Live and begin at 10 a.m.: https://www.facebook.com/ScienceCafeNE/. Viewers do not need a Facebook account to view the livestream. 

Dr. Anderson will give a brief overview of the manner of COVID-19 infection, the risk for severe infection and the implications of viral infection on the cardiovascular system and in turn how that impacts the whole body.  

He also will discuss efforts aimed at athletes who are impacted by COVID-19, and strategies designed to help them return to physical activity safely upon recovery. 

Dr. Anderson joined UNMC in 2006 as an assistant professor and director of experimental immunology in the cardiovascular laboratory. From 2006-2013, he also served as director of cardiac electrophysiology at the Omaha VA Medical Center. In 2013, he became an associate professor and served as section chief of cardiac electrophysiology as well as director of the clinical cardiac electrophysiology fellowship program.

Dr. Anderson earned his undergraduate degree in science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1988, his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1996 and his medical degree from UNMC in 1998. He did his PhD bench research, which focused on innate immunology of cardiovascular diseases, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

His research interests include cardiac and vascular inflammation. He is principal investigator for multiple clinical trials and has received funding support from the National Institutes of Health, as well as multiple grants funded by the American Heart Association, industry and from the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.  

Science Cafés involve a face-to-face conversation with an expert about current science topics. They are open to everyone (21 and older) and take place in casual settings like pubs and coffeehouses. Each meeting is organized around an interesting topic of conversation. The expert gives a brief presentation followed by a Q&A period.