COVID-19 Research at the University of Minnesota
Our portfolio of CO:VID (Collaborative Outcomes: Visionary Innovation & Discovery) grants support COVID-19 research and clinical projects. The research grants program is open for University of Minnesota faculty to catalyze and energize small-scale research projects designed to address and mitigate the COVID-19 virus and its associated risks. The clinical grants program support small-scale clinical projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and are targeted to proposals that explore new ways to diagnose and treat the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Funded CO:VID Grants as of 8/27:
- Develop and Test a 3D Printed Ventilator Manifold and a Low Cost Ventilator that Would Meet the Current Guidelines in a Surge Crisis
PI: Roy J. Cho, MD, MHA, Medical School - Impact of the Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 on the Care and Outcomes of Patients with Cancer: A Cohort Study
PI: Amit Kulkarni, MD, Medical School - Parameter Values for COVID-19 in the United States
PI: Amy Kinsley, DVM, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Perceptions of COVID-19 and Health
PI: Rachel Vogel, PhD, Medical School - How Much Social Distance is Enough? Family Preparedness and Responses to Non-Pharmacologic Interventions During the COVID-19 Pandemic
PIs: Gillian Tarr, PhD, CPH & Marizen Ramirez, PhD, MPH, School of Public Health - Biophysical Modeling of COVID-19 Clinical Trials
PI: David Odde, PhD, College of Science and Engineering - Social Media as an Emergency Response System: COVID-19 and Our Unprecedented Need for Information and Social Engagement
PI: Jude Mikal, PhD, School of Public Health - Identifying SARS-CoV-2 Vulnerabilities
PI: Alon Herschhorn, PhD, Medical School - Regulation for the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor ACE2 by ADAM17
PI: Bruce Walcheck, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Impact of Virtual Rounding for Patients with COVID-19 for Patient Satisfaction and Provider Safety
PI: Michael Usher, MD, PhD, Medical School - Novel Therapeutics Directed to COVID-19 RNA Targets
PI: Kathleen Boris-Lawrie, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Rapid, Field Deployable COVID-19 Testing
PI: Mark Osborn, PhD, Medical School - Convenient and Sensitive Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Infection by ELISA
PI: Yuying Liang, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Development of a Low-Cost, Scalable Mechanical Ventilator
PI: Stephen Richardson, MD, Medical School - Development of Vaccines Against COVID-19
PI: Hinh Ly, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Linkage of Cancer Biobanks and Registries to Understand COVID-19 Pathogenesis
PI: Heather Nelson, PhD, MPH, Masonic Cancer Center - Immune-Signature to Evaluate COVID-19-Related Liver Injury and Outcomes
PIs: Jose Debes, MD, MS & Thomas Leventhal, MD, Medical School - Independent Pressure Control for Multi-Patient Ventilators
PI: James D. Van de Ven, PhD, Mechanical Engineering - Reducing Particles Aerosolized by NIPPV Support Devices to Offload Ventilation and ICU Bed Usage
PI: Hai-Thien Phu, MD, Medical School - Minnesota Families: Understanding How to Best Tailor Our Public Health Response to Support Families During COVID-19
PI: Katie Loth, PhD, MPH, Medical School - SARS-CoV-2 in Tears
PI: Hossein Nazari, MD, Medical School - Point of Care Testing of SARS-CoV-2 by Using Smart Phone-Based Fluorescence Imaging
PI: Louis Mansky, PhD, Institute for Molecular Virology - Developing Portable Magnetic Bio-assay Platforms for the Detection of SARS-COV-2
PIs: Jian-Ping Wang, PhD & Maxim Cheeran, MVSc, PhD, College of Science and Engineering - Study to Elucidate the Mechanisms of Inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 (COVID19) Viral Entry into the Lung Epithelial Cells
PI: Hemant Mishra, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Leveraging Network Science to Help Decision Makers and the Public Understand the Effects of Implementation and Relaxation of Social Distancing Measures on COVID-19 Viral Spread
PI: Meggan Craft, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - COVID-19 Virtual Care
PI: Pita Adam, MD, MSPH, Medical School - Early Detection of COVID-19 Using Unobtrusive, Wearable Sensor Data
PI: Deniz S. Ones, PhD, College of Liberal Arts & Michael Cullen, Medical School - Leveraging Virtual Reality to Improve Compliance with Social Distancing
PI: Evan Suma Rosenberg, PhD, Computer Science & Engineering - Non-Thermal Cold Plasma Technology for Decontamination of Personal Protective Equipment (Face Masks and Face Shields) from SARS-COV2
PI: Sagar M. Goyal, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Magnesium Supplementation for Preventing Sudden Cardiac Death by COVID-19 Viroporins in Patients with Pre-Existing Hypertension
PI: Jin O-Uchi, MD, PhD, FAHA, FCVS, Medical School - Optimizing Communication Strategies for Reaching At-Risk Somali, Latino/a/x, and Hmong Elders with Timely COVID19 Information
PIs: Michele Allen, MD, MS & Maiyia Kasouaher, PhD, Medical School - Analyzing Aerosol Generation with Various Oxygen Delivery Methods
PIs: Nate Gaeckle, MD & Chris Hogan, PhD, Medical School - Rapid Deployment of School-Based Mental Health Providers during the COVID-19 Crisis
PI: Susan M. Mason, PhD, MPH, School of Public Health - Multivalent Vaccine to Provide Sterilizing Immunity Against COVID-19
PI: Mythili Dileepan, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Assessing Efficacy of a COVID-19 Stress Management Intervention
PI: Patricia Frazier, PhD, College of Liberal Arts - Real-Time Sequencing and Bioinformatics of SARS-COV2 from Positive Animal Samples at the Minnesota Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
PI: Sunil Mor, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Serum SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Activity
PI: Tyler Bold, MD, PhD, Medical School - Structural Basis of Remdesivir Inhibiting SARS-2 Transcription
PI: Bin Liu, PhD, The Hormel Institute - When Did COVID-19 Emerge in Minnesota? An Analysis of Newborn Saliva Swabs Spanning 11/2019 through 3/2022
PI: Mark R. Schleiss, MD, Medical School - Role of SARS-CoV-2 N Protein in COVID-19 Disease Pathogenesis
PI: Qinfeng Huang, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Intubation Box-Generation 2
PI: Gwenyth Fischer, MD, Medical School - The Development of SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Testing
Medical School - Low Cost ECMO System
Medical School - Mouse Model Host for SARS-CoV-2
PI: Michael Koob, PhD, Medical School - Association of Intestinal Dysbiosis with Clinical Outcomes in COVID-19 Patients
PI: Alexander Khoruts, MD, Medical School - COVID-19 Assessment with Point-of-Care Ultrasonography (POCUS)
PI: Matthew Yocum, MD, Medical School - Exploring the Role of RIP140 in Regulating the Acute Inflammatory Response in COVID-19 Patients
PI: Pat Arndt, MD, Medical School - Understanding Critical Virus-Host Interactions During the Life Cycle of SARS Coronavirus-2
PI: Anja Bielinsky, PhD, College of Biological Sciences - VIRUS Registry
PI: Ronald Reilkoff, MD, Medical School - Psychological and Biological Sequelae of COVID-19 in Adolescents with and without Non-Suicidal Self-Injury
PI: Kathryn Cullen, MD, Medical School - Angiotensin Peptide Turnover and Flux in COVID-19 Pathogenesis
PI: Peter Crawford, MD, PhD, Medical School - COVID-19 Antibody Testing Among Get Well Loop Participants
PI: Pita Adam, MD, Medical School - Novel Therapeutic Agents Targeting Replication of COVID-19
PI: Da-Qing Yang, PhD, The Hormel Institute - Development of Molecular and Bioinformatic Methods for Pan-Virome Analysis of SARS-COV-2 and Co-Circulating Viruses
PI: Noelle Noyes, DVM, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Modeling of Virus/Medicine Transport in Respiratory Systems and Their Interactions with Epithelial Cells for COVID-19 Treatment
PI: Suo Yang, PhD, Institute for Engineering in Medicine - A Platform Targeting Protein Structural Dynamics for High-Throughput Discovery of Small Molecule Antiviral Leads
PI: Joseph Muretta, College of Biological Sciences - Analysis of Shedding of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Breast Milk: Is there Risk to Newborns?
PI: Erin Osterholm, MD, Medical School - Synthesis of GMP grade Apilimod for COVID 19 Clinical Trials
PI: Ricardo Battaglino, PhD, Medical School - Optimizing a T3 Formulation for COVID-19 Patients With ARDS
PI: Robert Schumacher, PhD, Center for Translational Medicine - Prevalence Of Sars-Cov-2 Igg Antibodies In Patients With Cystic Fibrosis In The First 6 Months Of Known Virus In The State Of Mn And Monitoring Of Igg Levels In Follow-Up (6 Months & 1 Year)
PI: Joanne Billings MD, MPH, Medical School - Understanding Protective Antibody Mechanisms in COVID-19 to Engineer Universal Coronavirus Vaccine
PI: Geoffrey Hart, PhD, Medical School - Use of PDE5 Inhibitor for Preventing Cardiac Damage by SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 Patients with Cardiopulmonary Diseases
PI: Bong Sook Jhun, PhD, Medical School - Impact of COVID-19 on Antimicrobial Use and Antimicrobial Resistance
PI: Randall Singer, DVM, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Phone or Video (POV) Telemedicine for Opioid Use Disorder
PI: Cuong Pham, MD, Medical School - Identification of High-Risk COVID-19 Patients Through ACE Gene Polymorphism Detection
PI: Peter Larsen, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Genomics of COVID-19: A Collaboration with the International COVID Human Genome Effort Consortium
PIs: Christen Ebens, MD, MPH, and Meghan Rothenberger, MD, Medical School - Development of Microbiome Modulation Strategies to Prevent and Treat Perinatal COVID-19
PI: Cheryl Gale, MD, Medical School - Uncovering Resilience: Hair as a Retrospective Biomarker of Health and Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic
PIs: Alexander Herman, MD, PhD, and David Darrow, MD, MPH, Medical School - Portable Respiratory Isolation System For Patient Isolation During COVID-19 And Other Airborne Infections
PI: Hai-Thien Phu, MD, Medical School - Targeting Virus-Host Protein Interactions to Mitigate COVID-19 Disease
PI: Da Di, College of Veterinary Medicine - Assessing Viral-Cellular Protein-Protein Interactions in COVID-19
PI: Hannah Murphy, College of Veterinary Medicine - The Secretor vs Non-Secretor Status Encoded by FUT2 Gene Polymorphism and Susceptibility to COVID-19 Infection
PI: Bartosz Grzywacz, MD, Medical School - Targeting Virus Assembly to Inhibit SARS-CoV-2 Infection and COVID-19 Disease
PI: Md Mizanur Rahman, PhD, College of Veterinary Medicine - Investigating tRNA Fragments Predicted to Bind SARS-CoV-2
PI: Lynne Bemis, PhD, Medical School - Monitoring Population-Level Disease Prevalence through Monitoring of SARS-CoV2 Shedding into Wastewater
PIs: Glenn Simmons, PhD and Richard Melvin, PhD, Medical School
Research Stories
University of Minnesota Researchers Address Unique COVID-19 Challenges Through Innovation
Among supply chain challenges, limited numbers of personal protective equipment (PPE) and medical supplies, researchers and students at the University of Minnesota have been thinking up and implementing bold ideas to solve the unique problems presented during COVID-19.
Open-Source Release Allows Coventor to Be Produced Worldwide
The design for a low-cost ventilator created at the University of Minnesota has now been released as open-source, giving manufacturers around the globe a way to help supply care providers during the coronavirus pandemic.
FDA authorizes first-of-its-kind low-cost ventilator developed by University of Minnesota
Known as the Coventor, this ventilator is the first-of-its-kind authorized for use under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization for the COVID-19 outbreak.
U Researchers Orchestrate State’s Fastest On-Site Testing for COVID-19
Leaders from the University of Minnesota Medical School transformed two research buildings to create the state’s fourth on-site testing facility, now, with the fastest turnaround results in Minnesota.
U of M researchers find key—and vulnerable—features of novel coronavirus
A University of Minnesota team studied how mutations that changed the structure of a SARS-CoV-2 protein enabled it to attach more securely to human cells than its predecessor, infect human cells better, and spread faster.
DIY face masks during COVID-19
While DIY masks are not as effective as surgical or N95 masks* in preventing the spread of COVID-19, some doctors and other health care professionals are wearing them over the top of the higher-tech masks to increase durability.