Philanthropic support totaling $3 million driving COVID-19 research

I am grateful for the generous contributions from our donors and encourage those who can give to support the important work that is being done at UMass Medical School.

KATHERINE FITZGERALD, PhD

In the dramatic push to conquer the virus that causes COVID-19, donors and foundations from near and far have contributed nearly $3 million to faculty research labs at UMass Medical School to support efforts to understand and eventually treat the pandemic-causing novel coronavirus.

“Many researchers at the Medical School pivoted their research to COVID-19, highlighting the unprecedented need that this pandemic poses,” said Katherine Fitzgerald, PhD, chair of a review committee that evaluated proposals for funding from a new pandemic research fund. “I am grateful for the generous contributions from our donors and encourage those who can give to support the important work that is being done at UMass Medical School.”

More than $650,000 in donations were unrestricted, affording UMMS the much-needed flexibility to support initiatives quickly. Researchers from across the Medical School responded with 41 proposals, ranging from establishing new animal models for studying the virus, to investigating antiviral agents and understanding how the immune systems responds to the novel invader.

“The quantity and quality of the applications were impressive,” said Dr. Fitzgerald, the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, and director of the Program in Innate Immunity. “The science presented was high quality. The grants were creative and exciting.”

A panel of seven reviewers across multiple departments evaluated proposals and scored them based on scientific merit and relevance to advancing understanding of SARSCoV-2 and COVID-19. Priority was given to those who had not received other recent pilot grants.

Ultimately, 13 projects received funding from this unrestricted fund. The pilot grants are being used to support salaries and pay for supplies needed to gather preliminary data on SARS-CoV-2. “The goal of these pilots was to provide funds for immediate work on COVID-19,” said Fitzgerald. “This will advance the science to a position where investigators are able to apply for NIH or foundation funding armed with some preliminary data.”

Among the projects funded are strategies for active and passive immunotherapy design; a new core for modeling COVID-19 disease; and projects to look at stem-cell derived therapies, cross-reactivity of COVID-19, protease inhibitors, inflammation and acquisition of immunity.

Other COVID-19 related programs benefitting from philanthropic support include an ambitious clinical trial of convalescent plasma, using antibodies recovered from the blood of people who have survived COVID-19 as a therapeutic for patients with severe COVID-19 disease, and programs to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable and at-risk communities, such as children in foster care. ■

Supporters who generously contributed $25,000 or more to support COVID research at UMMS include:

C. F. Adams Charitable Trust

The George I. Alden Trust

American Heart Association

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Antonellis

The Bassick Family Foundation

The Boston Foundation

The Dacier Family in loving memory of Johnnie Ray Cox

Mary C. DeFeudis

Greater Worcester Community Foundation

Harrington Discovery Institute

Robert and Ardis James Foundation

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

Lookout Foundation

Rob and Donna Manning and the MFS Chairman’s Charitable Fund

Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness

The G. Harold & Leila Y. Mathers Charitable Foundation

Remillard Family Foundation