COVID-19 Diagnostic Solutions Lending Skills and Expertise to the Fight

LENDING SKILLS AND EXPE RTISE TO THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19

LENDING SKILLS AND EXPE RTISE TO THE

KAUST researchers and facilities move to the forefront of the global fight against the pandemic

As the leading research and science institution in the Kingdom, KAUST has a responsibility to lend its research capabilities and world-class facilities to the fight against COVID-19. From early on, the university has employed a two-pronged approach to combat the pandemic. First, it has channeled internal research capabilities into fighting the virus through the KAUST Rapid Research Response Team (R3T). Second, KAUST has supported local start-ups and companies to create ground-breaking solutions and technology in response to this global threat.

Building on some of the R3T’s early success in the field of diagnostics, Arnab Pain, Samir Hamdan and Mo Li – all Professors or Associate Professors of Bioscience at KAUST – have developed an in-house virus detection kit. Onestep reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the most widely used method for COVID-19 diagnostics, but the design of RT-PCR kits is generally restricted due to patent rights for the enzymes used in testing and a lack of information about the components in the kits. The KAUST team came up with a simple, economical and accurate one-step RT-PCR kit based on patent-free enzymes that can be easily acquired. The kit has been tested in both laboratory settings and at a Ministry of Health-approved testing facility, and could help further expand testing capabilities in the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Associate Professor Xin Gao has developed an artificial intelligence-based solution to increase COVID-19 diagnostic accuracy using CT scans. Identifying cases of early-stage infection has been particularly challenging for frontline clinicians. To date, the gold standard for confirmation of COVID-19 has been nucleic acid detection. Unfortunately, this method of testing has a high false-negative rate for patients in the early stages of the disease. Associate Professor Gao’s team conducted validation on multi-country, multi-hospital and multi-machine datasets, which demonstrated the superior performance of their method over existing ones. It was put to immediate use at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh.

Elsewhere, R3T researchers have been at the forefront of research on virus transmission. For a long time, it was thought that the rate at which SARSCoV-2 spread decreased in warm temperatures. A recent study published by KAUST R3T researchers challenges this assumption. Working alongside other researchers, Professors Takashi Gojobori and Carlos Duarte found that there was no correlation between spread rates and ambient temperature, suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 is unlikely to behave like a seasonal respiratory virus. This has immediate implications for government containment measures, and particularly for how countries plan their lockdown and release schedules for schools and other sectors of society.

While the understanding of the interplay between SARS-CoV-2 and external environmental factors is improving, R3T researchers are also working to increase the world’s microscopic knowledge of the virus. Associate Professor of Computer Science Ivan Viola, along with PhD student Ngan Nguyen and other researchers in the Nanovisualization Research Group, are using infor-

DR. TONY F. CHAN KAUST President

WE ARE NOT A PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY OR A HOSPITAL, BUT WE HAVE THE MEANS AND CAPABILITIES TO HELP THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE IN OTHER WAYS.

mation from electron microscope images and protein databases to build an atomistic-level 3D model of SARS-CoV-2. The model reveals details of the virus that were previously impossible to see. These details could prove key to developing suitable drugs to treat COVID-19.

KAUST’s efforts to combat the virus extend beyond its own research labs. The university has also been helping industry partners to develop solutions in response to the pandemic. Local start-ups and companies based at KAUST’s Research and Technology Park (KRTP) have made multiple breakthroughs in response to this global threat, focusing on everything from sanitization to the tracking of infected persons. KRTP-based tenants have access to KAUST laboratories, faculty and student talent, as well as a network of public spaces and facilities designed for creative collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

Medical supply shortages marked one of the earliest and most critical challenges of the COVID-19 response. From its research center in KRTP, SABIC – a Saudi global leader in chemicals – formed a task force to develop isopropanol (IPA), a key ingredient in hand sanitizer. With assistance from KAUST researchers, SABIC has successfully developed the technology to produce IPA and hopes to commercialize it before the end of 2020. Contact tracing is another area that has faced challenges. Hrzz, a KAUST start-up and KRTP resident, has developed a tracking app designed to notify community members, business owners and decision-makers in the medical community about the number of people infected with COVID-19. While it is still currently in development, the completed app will eventually alert citizens if an infected person is nearby, helping them avoid contaminated areas or take extra precautions as needed.

KING FAISAL SPECIALIST HOSPITAL

“We received full clearance from the chairman of the radiology department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in

Riyadh to move forward on implementing the AI-based CT segmentation and quantification diagnostic model for our confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases.”

Dr. Riham Mohamed Eiada, Radiology Department of King Faisal Specialist Hospital