COVID-19: All Coverage
To Test a Vaccine
UNC researcher Cindy Gay is part of a dedicated, interdisciplinary team united in the common goal to find a vaccine for COVID-19. Committed to doing their part to save lives, they have prioritized this effort in order to run Carolina’s Phase 3 clinical trial of the mRNA-1273 vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company Moderna.
Guiding Allocation of Limited Resources in Hospitals
Statistics and operations research professor Sherhan Ziya has spent the past decade developing mathematical models to help hospitals and emergency departments determine how to distribute limited resources efficiently and how to triage patients in mass casualty events — research that is, perhaps, now more important than ever.
Managing Mental Health in a Pandemic
UNC Department of Psychiatry professor Samantha Meltzer-Brody discusses the importance of focusing on tasks that make us feel stable, nurtured, and restored to improve mental health during a global pandemic in this Forbes article.
The Importance of COVID-19 Data Collection and Transmission
Reporting COVID-19 data is vital for tracking case numbers and outbreaks, identifying the most vulnerable demographics, understanding which treatments are most effective, and keeping hospitals open. That’s why researchers at RENCI are leading a case study documenting the flow of data produced during the pandemic.
Understanding Disparities in COVID-19 Testing
Thanks to an $80 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, the UNC Center for Health Equity and the Duke Clinical Research Institute have joined forces to build innovative and sustainable solutions to expand COVID-19 test access and uptake in underserved and vulnerable communities.
Making “Public” Economic Data Accessible
As North Carolina continues its phased reopening amidst COVID-19 public safety measures, UNC researchers are creating a digital data dashboard to help inform policymakers’ decisions on the state’s economic recovery.
Helping the Hardest Hit
While the novel coronavirus has affected us all, it has drastically changed the lives of specific groups of people, from rural populations to long-term care residents to communities of color. Startling statistics among these groups have pushed UNC researchers from a variety of disciplines into action.
COVID-19 Shapes Political Approval Rating
At the start of the pandemic, world leaders, on average, experienced a 14-point boost in approval, according to a new study from researchers at UNC and the National University of Singapore. This is called the rally effect, when citizens support leaders in times of national crisis.
Carolina’s Coronavirus Lab
UNC virologists Timothy Sheahan and Ralph Baric have been working around the clock to develop new treatments and vaccines to fight the novel coronavirus. In this Q&A, Sheahan discusses current projects, new discoveries, and the challenges that come with studying a virus like SARS-CoV-2.
Doing COVID-19 Dirty Work
Employing wastewater epidemiology — proven useful in outbreaks of polio and opioid use — UNC microbiologist Rachel Noble is leading a state-wide collaboration tracking novel coronavirus outbreaks across North Carolina, gaining insight that testing individuals does not offer. Preliminary results have shown that by using wastewater, researchers can identify COVID-19 hot spots five to seven days before they are reflected by clinical testing results.