Ralph Baric, one of the world’s leading experts on the coronavirus, formerly competed as a swimmer for North Carolina State University before launching his career as a professor and researcher.
Baric competed for NC State in the 1970s, shown and listed in team pictures from 1973, 1974 and 1976. His team picture from 1976 indicates that he swam the 500 and 1650 free, 400 IM and the 800 free relay. Per our archives, he raced the 500, 400 IM and the 200 fly at the 1973 NCAA Championships. He was the 1973 ACC Champion in the 500 free (4:39.4), 1650 free (16:17.9), 400 IM (4:09.9), and repeated as ACC Champion in the 400 IM in 1974 (4:16.92).
Nowadays, Baric is a veteran researcher and lab leader at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has been studying the coronavirus since the 1990s. In one study, he showed that coronaviruses that infected mice could rapidly adapt to invade hamster cells.
“It was not that difficult to evolve strains that could jump between species,” he said in an article from the Albuquerque Journal, which has now happened as it’s believed the virus was transmitted from bats to animals and ultimately to humans in China.
Baric’s 30-person team was one of the first in the US to receive samples of the virus, isolated from a patient in Washington by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The group is working quickly to find anything that can slow the virus or ease the symptoms. Currently, they are testing possible drugs to see if they have any ability to inhibit the virus inside human lung cells in a test tube.
Per the Albuquerque Journal article, Baric says he’s narrowed it down to “about 100 drugs” that are likely to show promise against the coronavirus.
Ralph didn’t just swim … he RACED …. and he WON… a lot! Including ACCs and several Conference Records and he could BEAST any practice … still our HERO …. thanks Ralph!
Bet he slayed in college 🤙
Is he the father of UNC Assistant swim coach, Michael Baric?
UNC, so it might be fake research
Something about Fed’s funding was cancelled for certain ‘experiments in to these viruses in 2013 & this outfit got an exemption & applied for a patent in 2015. Iirc it was granted quite recently .
Lookup his lecture on “How to Profit from the Next Pandemic”, while it’s still on Facebook. See any ethical issues there?
Go Pack!
Bring back these kind of roster pics!
Go Ralph go!
Sea Tiger !! “It’s realistic to be unrealistic.”