Laurier Health Sciences student Tamar Barth working to combat coronaviruses through immune response

Feb. 7, 2025

Though everyone is well aware of one particular coronavirus – COVID-19 – there is a whole family of coronaviruses that can lead to upper respiratory symptoms, colds or more severe conditions, such as pneumonia. A research lab at Wilfrid Laurier University is trying to combat the spread of human coronavirus in lung cells using the body’s own immune system.

Tamar Barth, a fourth-year student in the BSc Health Sciences program, is excited to be tackling this impactful research alongside her supervisor, Professor Stephanie DeWitte-Orr. In 2022, DeWitte-Orr demonstrated that a nucleic acid produced by viruses – long double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) – can be used to target and shut down the spread of illness in healthy and cancerous cells. As part of her undergraduate thesis, Barth is studying HCoV229E, a human coronavirus that causes the common cold and more severe illness in immunocompromised individuals.

Barth working in the DeWitte-Orr Lab at Laurier.

When small amounts of long dsRNA are present within a cell, an immune response called RNA interference is triggered, which can reduce the virus. With this knowledge, DeWitte-Orr’s team has used lab-made long dsRNA molecules to activate the RNA interference pathway to treat human coronavirus. More investigation is needed to pinpoint exactly how dsRNA targets the virus, which is where Barth’s research comes in.

“For my research project, we are adding the same lab-made dsRNA to human lung cells to measure how it affects the virus’s nucleocapsid protein, which is crucial for coronavirus to replicate,” says Barth. “Our goal is to provide further evidence of how the RNA interference pathway targets human coronavirus.”

Although Barth is still experimenting, her results have been promising. Determining the immune pathway that is activated by the addition of dsRNA would not only be helpful for treating human coronavirus infections but also cancer, such as glioblastoma. In particular, the lab’s findings could benefit infants, the elderly and other immunocompromised individuals who often have significant health impacts when infected by colds and viruses and are often unable to be vaccinated.

The team’s research is still in the preclinical trial stage, with clinical trials expected to begin in the next five years.

Barth has loved growing her research skills during her time at Laurier and feels grateful for DeWitte-Orr’s mentorship.

“Dr. DeWitte-Orr is an excellent supervisor,” says Barth. “Her passion and enthusiasm for her work motivates me and she fosters collaboration between me and my fellow students. Although we are all conducting different experiments, we share our findings and give each other advice.”

Barth will continue her research as she prepares to graduate in the spring. Inspired by her experience at Laurier, she wants to continue working in health care and making a difference in people’s lives.