Hormel Institute adjusts day-to-day operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic

As has been the case with everyone else, the Hormel Institute has been forced to change its day-to-day operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including reducing access to the building to essential staff only, and even then employees are asked to limit their exposure.  Despite the coronavirus outbreak, scientists and staff are continuing their work in the battle against cancer, and Gail Dennison, Director of Development and Operations with the Institute told KAUS that during this pandemic, their thoughts are with at-risk people who are undergoing cancer treatment…

Dennison went on to state that another way doctors and scientists at the Institute have looked to help during the pandemic is through education, and she talked about some institute scientists who have taken to Zoom to record videos that they have contributed to students throughout Austin….

Hoeppner recorded a five minute video using his children as volunteers.  They conducted an experiment and made a hypothesis about the density of water and salt water and then guessed whether an egg would float.  Another staff member who recorded a video was Dr. Ilana Cheftez, Ph.D., an assistant professor and leader of the Cancer Stem Cells and Necroptosis lab who recorded a video concerning their research on ovarian cancer and cancer stem cells.  Cheftez talked about the different ways cells can die or about stem cells in the video, and what their properties are.