ASU’s research enterprise and the community unite against a pandemic - A one-year review

ASU’s research enterprise and the community unite against a pandemic A one-year review

research.asu.edu

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Introduction

Table of contents 00 Introduction

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01 F illing the urgent need for vaccinations and testing

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02 Providing

powerful data and trusted expertise 14 03 Helping Arizona’s economy thrive

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04 R esources for remote resilience

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05 A ddressing the state’s critical PPE shortage 32 06 C reating a healthier future for all

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“Let’s go save some lives” As the pandemic ripped through Arizona communities unimpeded, Arizona State University acted decisively to bend the curve of infections downward. Teams across the entire university sprang into action to meet the critical needs for testing and tracking the virus and providing vaccines. Though the initial shock of the pandemic may be behind us, researchers from disciplines across ASU are tackling challenges that still lie ahead, from improving vaccines and tracking viral variants to understanding and treating long COVID. More than 70 key players meet at 8 a.m., three days a week, to strategize and mobilize. ASU Biodesign Institute Executive Director Joshua LaBaer signs off each meeting with, “Let’s go save some lives.”

Within a year of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S., ASU researchers, faculty, staff, students and partners have:

Stood up and operated

hundreds of COVID-19 testing sites throughout Arizona.

Provided key data to

track and predict the spread of the pandemic and its impact.

Set up a clinically approved and

certified COVID-19 testing lab.

Developed and deployed the

first salivabased COVID-19 PCR test publicly available in the U.S.

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Provided

critical supplies to local hospitals and health care providers.

Earned national recognition for their joint state and university vaccination effort,

called a “role model” for the nation by the White House.

I joined the Knowledge Enterprise at the height of the pandemic.

Witnessing this team of professionals operating at max capacity, with unparalleled resiliency, showed me the capability, adaptability and agility of this organization. It also demonstrated the power of our partnerships with local and state entities. What we have achieved together in the past year is nothing short of extraordinary. I extend my heartfelt appreciation for the contributions, the sacrifices and the commitment to ASU that each and every KE employee has made during this unprecedented period in time.”

— Sally C. Morton, Executive Vice President for ASU Knowledge Enterprise

Processed more than

800,000 free tests over a year with an average 27-hour turnaround time.

Delivered more than

1 million COVID-19 vaccines

by partnering with state agencies to support logistics and staffing of 24/7 inoculation sites.

Received Arizona Governor’s

Innovator of the Year award for COVID-19 response.

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Filling the urgent need for vaccinations and testing

ASU researchers have rapidly adapted to the needs of the community — first for free, fast and accessible testing, then for rapid vaccine distribution. After COVID-19 first appeared in Arizona, ASU’s Biodesign Institute shifted its capabilities to create a clinically approved and certified COVID-19 testing lab within two weeks.

Soon afterward, the lab began processing thousands of samples a day, delivering results in an average of 27 hours, while much of the nation was plagued by the limited availability of tests and long wait times for results. Though highly effective vaccines were developed and deployed in record time, inoculating enough Arizonans to achieve herd immunity posed a logistical challenge. ASU is helping overcome the hurdle by partnering with the state to expand capacity and improve efficiency of vaccination sites.

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Operation vaccination

In a lifesaving race to vaccinate 3.5 million Arizona residents by July 1, ASU sites have delivered more than 1 million of those vaccines. The state teamed up with ASU to expand capacity by opening its second COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site at ASU’s Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The site speeds the pace of innoculation by as many as 12,000 vaccines per day.

ASU adds efficiency by overseeing staffing, logistics and operations at both state-run drive-thru sites, Phoenix Municipal and State Farm stadiums.

ASU’s previous work on drive-thru, saliva-based, free COVID-19 testing at State Farm Stadium laid the groundwork for vaccinating one person every 10 seconds at the site today.

Members of the ASU community fill many roles at the vaccine sites, from triage and traffic control to security and clinicians delivering vaccines under the medical direction of the Arizona Department of Health Services. In addition, a small army of university faculty, staff and students volunteer to help deliver thousands of COVID-19 vaccines to ASU community members in the Sun Devil Fitness Center at the Tempe campus.

ASU’s collaboration with the state of Arizona has earned kudos from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who virtually toured the State Farm Stadium vaccination site. Harris praised the effort, calling it a “role model of how this kind of approach can work.”

Because of Arizona’s success, the National Football League is now offering up all stadiums around the country to be used for vaccination sites.

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Registered nurse Britteny Hayes, with ASU, speaks about coordinating the personnel logistics of Arizona’s vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale during a virtual tour with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.

The joint ASU and state vaccination effort earned praise from the White House, which called it a “role model” for the nation.

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Within one year, the lab has processed more than 800,000 tests.

The Biodesign Institute at ASU is an invaluable partner in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We needed to move quickly to test our essential employees who are responsible for keeping the lights on and air conditioners running for our customers across the state of Arizona. The Biodesign Institute collaborated with APS to set up qPCR testing at multiple sites within just a few days, and has continued to work with us to improve the process so that we can sustain an effective testing program and maintain a healthy workforce.”

— Pat Dinkel, Vice President of Strategy and Risk: Arizona Public Service Electric

Making diagnostic testing easier and more readily available When SARS-CoV-2 first appeared in Arizona, ASU’s Biodesign Institute shifted its capabilities to create a clinically approved and certified COVID-19 testing lab in a mere two weeks.

The team’s high-throughput, robotic system has the ability to run thousands of samples a day, greatly increasing Arizona’s COVID-19 testing capabilities and providing results within an average of 27 hours. ASU’s applied research and development arm, ASURE, planned and managed testing and vaccination site operations.

Researchers at the Biodesign Institute also developed the state’s first saliva-based test. The new saliva-based test is a game-changer for several reasons. It is accurate, less invasive, less labor intensive and requires fewer medical personnel.

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Serving the underserved

As inadequate testing, economic hardship and shortages of everyday necessities wreaked havoc on local communities, ASU stepped in to fill the void by forging key partnerships with federal, state and local agencies.

The university partnered with the Arizona Department of Health Services in July 2020 to provide free, public COVID-19 testing in communities around the state, with ADHS committing up to $12.7 million to fund the expansion of testing sites to serve up to 100,000 Arizonans. Later fueled by a $4.7 million federal grant, ASU identified Arizona’s “testing deserts” based on epidemiological data as a first step toward boosting testing and providing education, follow-up medical care and economic assistance as needed to residents in 10 underserved communities.

COVID-19 imposed an especially heavy toll on Indigenous communities.

In response, the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health funded engineering research and community outreach led by ASU to apply wastewater-based epidemiology to detect coronavirus in reservation sewer systems. The process provides a faster, less expensive way to detect coronavirus in a community than testing individuals with nasal swabs or saliva tests.

As the economic shutdown created a financial crisis for many Arizonans, much-needed relief came through the ASU/Luce COVID Rapid Relief project, fueled by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation; the COVID Community Action Alliance launched by colleagues from ASU’s College of Health Solutions and Center for Health Information and Research; and the First Peoples’ COVID-19 Resource Drive, initiated by ASU alumni to aid tribal communities.

This critical partnership will have an immediate impact in the fight against COVID-19 and help us surge testing where it’s needed most.

My thanks to Arizona State University for their continued partnership and for continuing to step up to aid public health in innovative and invaluable ways.”

— Arizona Governor Doug Ducey

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Safely returning teachers, staff and students to school in underserved communities

Being in school is best for a child’s academic and social development — especially for those already struggling before the pandemic. But safely reopening schools in the state’s most underserved communities required regular testing to reduce COVID-19 transmission and identify potential outbreaks early on. In response, ASU and the Arizona Department of Health Services teamed up to open 13 additional COVID-19 testing sites for teachers and staff in underserved K-12 school districts. The sites offer surveillance testing for 20% of all teachers and staff on a weekly basis.

Teachers and staff also have priority registration at free COVID-19 public testing sites, which are also readily available to students and their parents.

No-appointment, no-contact COVID-19 testing

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The latest in ASU’s free, saliva-based COVID-19 testing, the no-appointment Devils’ drop-off service makes it easier for Sun Devils to test regularly and provides ASU with vital contract-tracing details.

Available at more than 30 locations across four metropolitan Phoenix campuses as well as ASU in Washington D.C. and ASU Local in Los Angeles, the service allows students and employees to take a test whenever it fits their schedule. It’s as simple as picking up a Devils’ drop-off kit, going online to register the barcode found on the sample tube, finding a private area to collect a saliva sample and dropping off the kit at a pick-up location. As more students use Devils’ drop-off, researchers have the opportunity to obtain crucial information about the virus’s effect on the student population.

Making testing faster, more accessible ASU scientists and engineers created a prototype easy-to-use diagnostic reader for rapid, large scale COVID-19 testing. The point-of-need device adapts laboratory equipment to a portable, microfluidic platform that tests saliva samples for COVID-19 in about 20 minutes. The device, made from off-the-shelf components, would make testing more accessible and require less training to use and implement. In addition, the adaptable technology can be modified to test new coronaviruses that may emerge.

Uncovering undetected infections

An antibody study of Maricopa County found that COVID-19 infections were three to four times higher than indicated by testing. The ambitious study, conducted by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Mayo Clinic and ASU, collected blood samples from 169 households throughout the county to test them for COVID-19 antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that our bodies produce in response to an infection. They can reveal who had COVID-19 in the past, even if they didn’t have symptoms.

The survey found that 10.7% of residents — approximately 470,000 people — had a past COVID-19 infection.

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Providing powerful data and trusted expertise

The uncertainty brought about by the pandemic highlighted the need for reliable, trustworthy information. ASU rose to the occasion, emerging as a leading provider of data about the coronavirus and its rapid spread in Arizona.

Researchers also contributed their time and expertise to educate the public about the latest science and clear up misconceptions about vaccines.

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ASU emerged as a go-to source of reliable, trustworthy pandemic information on all fronts — interfacing with the public, media and government agencies.

Delivering data straight to your screen

The COVID trends dashboard on the ASU Biodesign Clinical Testing Laboratory website provides daily metrics on vaccines, testing, clinical outcomes for Arizona and the United States, and the lab’s own testing volume. Graphs help visitors visualize the data and better understand the magnitude of COVID-19’s impact in Arizona. The statewide data are shown both cumulatively and broken down by county. To put Arizona into context, U.S. charts offer state-to-state comparisons. Google searches, media outlets and social community pages are top traffic sources pointing users to the site. As a result of the clinical testing pages, Biodesign’s website has seen 300% more users compared to last year, ranking it in the top 14 sites for ASU. 16

Keeping the press and public informed As Arizona became a virus hotspot in summer 2020, people within and without the state looked to local leaders for answers. Biodesign Institute Executive Director Joshua LaBaer emerged as a trusted scientific expert, holding weekly press conferences to provide insight and knowledge to the press and public. Attended by local, national and international news outlets, the conferences provided LaBaer a platform to advocate for public safety measures, advance understanding of complex science and promote testing and vaccination.

Combating disinformation in communities of color

People of color make up more than half of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health. In an effort to curb infections among these disportionately affected communities, researchers from ASU, along with colleagues from University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and Mayo Clinic, formed a consortium to combat disinformation and promote awareness among those hardest hit.

Through focus groups and coordination with health, faith and community organizations, the consortium aims to increase vaccination, reduce disinformation and promote preventive measures.

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Connecting scientists around the globe to model the pandemic

Thousands of scientists worldwide have been working around the clock to develop computer models to better understand COVID-19 and its rapid spread. To fast-track research and discovery, ASU launched the Network for Computational Modeling in Social and Ecological Sciences (CoMSES Net), an international clearinghouse for computer models where scientists can harness the power of collaboration at a critical time. CoMSES Net provides a digital platform for scientists to scrutinize and fine tune the assumptions and algorithms of models projecting the course of the pandemic in hopes of curbing its devastating spread.

Reaching out to infected individuals

Case investigation is the first step in the contact tracing process. ASU leads a team of volunteer case investigators who interview people in Maricopa County diagnosed with COVID-19 to identify whom they have been in contact with and collect information that helps track the spread of the virus. They also provide public health guidance and share resources available to help people in isolation. By the end of March 2021, ASU case investigators had conducted over 17,000 interviews and closed nearly 36,000 cases.

By the end of March 2021, ASU case investigators had conducted over 17,000 interviews and closed nearly 36,000 cases.

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Revealing the impact of social distancing and masks

Social distancing curbed the pandemic, but plunged the nation into recession. As a result, states began reopening their economies in May 2020. But what would be the toll on human life? The answer came in a collaborative research study — from ASU, the University of Florida Gainesville, the University of New South Wales and Harvard Medical School — that showed early termination of strict social distancing measures could trigger a devastating second wave of COVID-19. The simulations accurately predicted that terminating strict social distancing by the end of April 2020 would result in a significant rebound of COVID-19 as early as July.

Another ASU research study, published in the Journal of Infectious Disease Modeling, revealed that if most people consistently wore masks in public (even homemade face coverings), the result would be a significant reduction in community transmissions of COVID-19 and decrease in peak hospitalizations and deaths. The research offers insight into how to reduce the spread of the virus while still functioning as a society.

Enahoro Iboi is one of the lead authors of the research study on social distancing and a graduate student in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences.

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Building community resilience through interactive tools

From a dashboard that tracks key metrics on Arizona job loss and other economic indicators to a robust hospital resources mapping tool, ASU’s Knowledge Exchange for Resilience site provides facts at leaders’ fingertips.

The site also offers an on-demand webinar on adaptive leadership, among other features.

New resource hub on COVID-19 tests worldwide

ASU’s Decision Theater teamed up with the ASU College of Health Solutions and the World Economic Forum to launch COVID-19 Testing Commons, a one-stop, reliable source for comprehensive information about COVID-19 tests worldwide on the COVID-19 Diagnostic Commons site.

The hub makes it possible for users to search all tests in the market and pipeline by multiple parameters, including test type, technology, regulatory status, country of origin and more.

With over 1,400 tests currently on the market or in the pipeline, businesses and public health administrators need the right tools to make the right purchase choices.

The COVID-19 Testing Commons is that tool to help decision-makers find the tests that most closely match their needs.”

— Dr. Jonathan “Jono” D. Quick, Managing Director of Pandemic Response, Preparedness and Prevention at The Rockefeller Foundation and author of “The End of Epidemics” 20

Arming scientists with answers

In the middle of the chaos and confusion a pandemic brings, information technology systems that maintain the flow of information are vital. ASU Knowledge Enterprise’s Research Technology Office rose to the occasion, supporting web, information technology and security demands for the many emerging COVID-19 projects universitywide. RTO rapidly deployed a number of websites, tools and applications to support university efforts, including the clinical system for participants to schedule COVID-19 testing and receive results.

In addition, RTO coordinated a tri-university effort to leverage research supercomputing capabilities to perform complex protein modeling of COVID-19. Dozens of research faculty are now using the new RTOcreated Arizona Secure Research Environment (ASRE) to model and study epidemiological trends throughout Arizona and the world.

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Helping Arizona’s economy thrive

After experiencing record-shattering job losses and contraction during the pandemic, Arizona faces pressing questions about its future economic rebound. Prior to the pandemic, Arizona had one of the strongest economies in the nation in terms of population growth and job creation. But the state rapidly went from one of the most thriving economies in the nation to double-digit unemployment.

ASU researchers are exploring the economic consequences of the pandemic and the impact of various policy responses. In addition, groups across the university are helping businesses of all sizes to adapt and thrive.

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Safely returning employees to the workplace

As businesses reopened or expanded from a skeleton crew, a pressing question remained: How can we safely return employees to the workplace during the COVID-19 era? ASU offers a reopening service that consists of rapidly assembled teams to help businesses ramp back up safely across several areas, including COVID-19 testing, sanitation procedures and developing technology like phone apps to manage new kinds of customer relations. In addition, ASU’s College of Health Solutions and the World Economic Forum, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, provide the very latest information through the COVID-19 Diagnostics Commons.

The interactive hub for the global community gives access to up-to-date information about testing options and a place to share knowledge and practices for safely bringing back and keeping employees in the workplace.

Knowledge is power, and the COVID-19 Diagnostics Commons is designed to give companies around the world the power to leverage data from their peers and bring their employees back to the workplace more safely and effectively. Our survey will gather information, and our educational events will enable discussion so that businesses can collaborate and learn from each other.”

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— Mara Aspinall, Founder of Health Catalysts Group and Professor of Practice at ASU’s College of Health Solutions

Helping federal agencies pivot in a pandemic

When the spread of COVID-19 shifted from a looming threat to a full-blown pandemic in March 2020, ASU’s Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency sprang into action. As a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, CAOE helps some of the agencies charged with responding to the pandemic plan for and overcome anticipated — and unanticipated — challenges. The center shifted the focus of an ongoing project to address expected supply chain challenges around medical equipment and vaccines. It also added two new projects to help the government and others forecast the economic consequences of the pandemic, and related policy responses, based on different scenarios.

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Exposing COVID-19 phishing scams

The ASU Global Security Initiative’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics tracked various aspects of the internet from January to May 2020 to understand how criminals use the COVID-19 pandemic to increase the effectiveness of phishing attacks designed to steal user credentials. The preliminary study found that overall phishing has increased, and attackers are leveraging COVID-19 to increase the effectiveness of their attacks. An example includes a phishing website camouflaged as a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 donation webpage.

The center has always focused on projects that directly contribute to the operational mission of the Department of Homeland Security. When DHS’s tactical priorities shift and they are faced with responding to a crisis, we adjust as well.”

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— Ross Maciejewski, Director of the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency

Aiding small businesses during the economic fallout

Companies and industries of all sizes were battered by the upheaval brought about by the pandemic, with small businesses bearing the brunt of it. The J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute leveraged its considerable resources and network to aid small businesses during the economic shift.

Edson E+I’s efforts included providing mentors and subject matter experts to the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Small Business Assistance response, serving on the COVID-19 Small Business Task Force for the City of Peoria, and assisting the City of Phoenix’s Economic and Community Development team in sourcing contact information for thousands of registered businesses for direct outreach. Edson E+I is also using a $50,000 grant from the Santander Consumer USA Foundation to support entrepreneurs in the mobile food entrepreneurship program, Prepped.

ASU rapidly established services to help businesses, government agencies and individuals to keep our economy healthy and resilient.

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Resources for remote resilience

When strict social distancing guidelines left people feeling lonely and isolated, the university was quick to respond with tools to promote remote resilience and navigate the new normal.

Though many have returned to in-person work or shifted to a hybrid model, social interaction remains limited, making the variety of online resources ASU experts provided for parents, educators, health care workers and older adults persistently valuable.

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Online education resources for all levels and ages

The university provides a vast collection of online resources for education at all levels and ages onto a single platform called ASU for You. The site offers a wide array of content, much of it at no cost, for all learners — from elementary school students to adults — as well as resources for teachers and parents who are navigating teaching and learning at home.

The COVID-19 Resource Hub

The College of Health Solutions has curated a collection of resources for all ages and populations to work remotely, parent sensibly, learn productively and manage their health in a difficult time, called the COVID-19 Resource Hub. 30

COVID Resilience for Healthcare Professionals Facebook group

Launched by an Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation graduate student, this online forum provides a space where doctors, nurses and other essential health care workers can compare notes, offer support and reduce stress. The group has thousands of members spanning the country and world who share their expertise on topics ranging from yoga and nightly prayers to holistic coaching.

Online mindfulness and meditation activities

To help people cope with their anxiety as they deal with social distancing, quarantine and the risk of disease, ASU’s Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience moved activities of its mindfulness center online for a daily noontime session of virtual meditation and support.

An online mindfulness initiative called “Caring and Connection in the Time of COVID-19” features live, hourlong mindfulness and meditation sessions.

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Addressing the state’s critical PPE shortage

As if facing a pandemic wasn’t bad enough, a shortage of personal protective equipment threatened health care providers working hard to save lives — a call to action for ASU researchers.

The university created an online network that enlists community members with access to resources such as 3D printers and sewing machines to rapidly produce personal protective equipment. Months into the COVID-19 crisis, the ongoing shortage of PPE forced hospitals to rely on sterilizing and reusing equipment to shore up supplies. Researchers have developed a variety of options to make sterilization fast, effective and affordable.

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Protecting the protectors

Students in ASU’s Luminosity Lab devised a brilliant solution to address the state’s PPE shortage: enlisting community members with access to resources such as 3D printers and sewing equipment to mass produce face shields, medical gowns and nasal swabs for health care providers through the PPE Response Network. The network quickly partnered with a number of organizations — Banner Health, Equality Health, Dignity Health, HonorHealth and Arizona Academy of Family Physicians, among others — to get their equipment needs registered and underway. Over the year, more than 15,500 pieces of equipment were delivered to hospitals, clinics and other health care providers in need.

Over one year, the PPE Response Network delivered more than 15,500 pieces of equipment to hospitals, clinics and other health care providers in need.

Harnessing UVC light to sanitize PPE

N95 masks — critical protective gear for health care providers — are designed for single use. But with Arizona hospitals going through 5,000 to 6,000 N95 masks per week, this essential PPE became a scarce resource.

A research team in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment created a device that delivers the perfect dosage of UVC light to PPE to kill the coronavirus in 5 to 10 minutes. Until the pandemic hit, the research team was focused on new ways to disinfect water, but quickly pivoted to answer the nation’s urgent call to develop new technology that can help sanitize medical equipment for reuse.

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Making PPE safer and reusable

A professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering tapped into decades of experience in microcontamination management.

He built a lab in his own home to create systems for ozone reconditioning of N95 masks and other surgical gear, allowing health care workers to make their surgical and personal clothing safe and reuse hard-to-find items. As part of an ASU working group collaborating with Banner Health’s innovation team, he is also examining the materials of general use masks to ensure they filter airborne particles as well as surgical masks that are in short supply. The results of his study will influence which materials will be recommended for use in masks made for hospital staff and visitors.

Students in the ASU Luminosity Lab also mobilized to address the personal protective equipment shortage by creating two low-cost, small scale sterilization systems. The first uses vaporized hydrogen peroxide and is intended to combat the N95 mask shortage. The second relies on ozone, and was designed to provide small businesses with a way to sterilize a variety of items, including clothing and reusable face masks.

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Creating a healthier future for all

Arizona State University rose to the challenge of the COVID-19 crisis, but its work is far from over.

Across the university, forward-thinking researchers from multiple disciplines are exploring the hard lessons learned from the pandemic and innovating solutions to safeguard the community’s health and well-being and prepare for future crises.

Proactive, agile and collaborative, ASU identifies emerging challenges and builds the right teams and partnerships to create effective solutions.

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ASU researchers are working to develop a vaccine that broadly safeguards against multiple coronavirus variants.

Overcoming the challenge of mass COVID-19 vaccination

Arizona faces a task of unprecedented scale: to ensure the safe, inclusive and effective deployment of COVID-19 vaccines to its residents. Though highly effective vaccines were developed in record time, the state is now racing to vaccinate enough of its residents to achieve herd immunity, the benchmark at which enough people are immune to the virus to stop its deadly spread. The deployment of COVID-19 vaccines poses logistical challenges, not only due to the volumes required, but also the intricacies of transportation and storage.

The state has tapped into ASU’s expertise to overcome these logistical hurdles at a critical time.

Battling future viral threats

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ASU is at the forefront of Arizona’s fight against the spread of new coronavirus variants. Viruses constantly change through mutation, and COVID-19 is no exception. New viral variants even more contagious than those that started the pandemic are emerging. Vigilant ASU researchers are already tracking many variant strains, including one discovered in Arizona that researchers say needs to be monitored closely because it carries a mutation known for weakening vaccines. To trace the trail of the virus, researchers are using next-generation sequencing at ASU’s Genomics Facility to rapidly read through all 30,000 chemical letters of the SARS-CoV-2 genetic code.

ASU has also teamed up with TGen and the state’s two other universities to form the Arizona COVID-19 Genomics Union, which uses big data analysis and genetic mapping to inform health care providers and public policymakers in the fight against the pandemic.

Probing the “long-term” effects of COVID-19

A year into the pandemic, tens of thousands of Arizona’s COVID-19 patients still suffer debilitating symptoms — including fatigue, shortness of breath, “brain fog,” sleep disorders, fevers, gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety and depression — known as “long COVID.” ASU partnered with Northern Arizona University, TGen, Arizona Department of Health Services and nine major Arizona health care providers to submit a $99 million proposal to the National Institutes of Health. The funding would support a long-term study of over 4,000 individuals to answer pressing questions: What is the underlying biological cause of these prolonged symptoms?

What makes some people vulnerable to long COVID and not others?

Did the immune system’s fight against the disease produce autoimmune effects? And most importantly: How can people suffering from long COVID return to health?

Looking toward the future of COVID-19 vaccines

As the virus that causes COVID-19 continues to evolve, it raises the risk that changes to its genetic code could escape the immune response triggered by current vaccines. In response, ASU researchers are focusing on developing a vaccine that broadly safeguards against multiple variants.

Transporting current COVID-19 vaccines to immunization centers, clinics and health centers around the world poses challenges because the “cold chain” of cold rooms, freezers, refrigerators, cold boxes and carriers must keep vaccines at just the right temperature during the long journey from the manufacturing line to the syringe. The cold chain problem, along with two-dose vaccines, pose particular hardships for rural and low-income communities that ASU seeks to address through the development of a single-dose vaccine without stringent storage requirements.

We’re not just looking at this as a virus, we’re looking at this as a human experience. What is it doing to human lives?

How can we step in and try to provide ways for people to productively move their lives forward? What did this teach us about vulnerable aspects of society’s systems that we need to fix?”

— Neal Woodbury, Vice President of Research and Chief Science and Technology Officer, ASU Knowledge Enterprise

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research.asu.edu

ASU charter

ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.

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