New COVID Test Can Quickly Detect Variants
University of Florida researchers have invented a test that can determine within 10-15 minutes whether patients test positive for COVID and, if so, which of the five known variants of concern they have.
COVID-19 technology?
Our online portal is open and ready.
We have seen our inventors and entrepreneurs rise to the challenges brought by COVID-19 this past year, and we are thankful and proud of each one of you. We at UF Innovate are here to facilitate your efforts as you continue to invent, create entrepreneurial solutions, and do all you can to change the world for the better. We hope this page of resources and stories about how UF Innovate research and entrepreneurs are doing their part to help in this pandemic encourages and inspires you.
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Small business owners can apply for a First Draw Loan from the Payroll Protection Program by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Applications still open.
Grants & Funding
Looking for program development and funding opportunities during COVID-19? Visit UF’s Emerging Pathogen’s Funding webpage to learn about available grants.
Latest UF Research
UF researchers continue to respond to the COVID-19 crisis by doing what they do best — finding answers and solutions. Read the latest research here.
Loan Guidelines
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce continues to help companies stay afloat and keep paychecks flowing and more. Details on relief package and vaccines here.
CORD-19 Dataset
Help generate new insights to fight COVID-19, collaborate with other researchers worldwide, participate in the CORD-19 Challenge. Learn more.
UF Health Facts
Get the fast facts about UF Health’s responses and learn about the work our researchers conduct to combat the global pandemic. The latest here.
Startup Advice
Do you have an idea for a startup? OUP’s tech and life sciences teams are offering free VC office hours to UF researchers. Sign up for a 30-minute complimentary session.
Funding Innovation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledges millions to fund innovation that tackles COVID-19 challenges. Get the latest here.
Impact on Research
The coronavirus is a challenge impacting researchers at the university. UF Research is doing its best to keep researchers updated. More here.
UF Innovate Tech & Startups Aid the Fight
Oragenics Engages KBI Biopharma to Support Development of Intranasal COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate NT-CoV2-1
Oragenics, Inc. announced it has entered into an agreement with KBI Biopharma, Inc. for the process transfer, process optimization, and cGMP manufacturing of Oragenics’s intranasal vaccine candidate NT-CoV2-1, which is expressed in a proprietary CHO cell line.
Covid-19 Nasal Vaccine Produces Antibodies, Cuts Viral Load
Tests with lab animals show a vaccine given as a nasal spray produces high antibody volumes against SARS-CoV-2 infections and reduces viral loads. Results of tests by biotechnology companies Oragenics Inc., a Sid Martin Biotech alum located in Tampa, and Inspirevax in Laval, Quebec, with National Research Council of Canada, appear on the bioRxiv pre-publication server, and are not yet peer-reviewed.
Endemic COVID-19 Could Be 1 to 10 Years Away
If you donned your mask today and felt a primal urge to yell “When will this pandemic END-emic already?!” take heart. You are not alone.
Clinicians May Now Be Able To Tell COVID-19 From Seasonal Flu With Fast Turnaround Thanks to UF Research
Led by Dr. Z. Hugh Fan, Ph.D., professor at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Dr. John Lednicky, Research Professor at the College of Public Health and Health Professions’ Department of Environmental and Global Health, an interdisciplinary team at the University of Florida has developed a game-changing diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2 that is fast, reliable, low-cost and capable of differentiating between COVID-19 and influenza.
UF Health Study Suggests Association Between COVID-19 and Erectile Dysfunction
If the threat of death or severe disability isn’t enough to convince someone to get a COVID-19 vaccination, men can add this possible consequence of coronavirus infection — erectile dysfunction.
Oragenics Extends Collaboration with the National Research Council of Canada to Develop Vaccine against the Omicron Variant
Oragenics, Inc. announced it has extended a licensing and collaboration agreement with the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) that will enable Oragenics to pursue an intranasal vaccine designed to protect against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.
UF Health Researcher’s Analysis Finds New Pattern of Mutations in Omicron Variant
University of Florida Health researcher has successfully analyzed the many mutations in the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a crucial step in better understanding the variant’s potential threat and ways to combat it.
Patients Who Recover From Severe COVID-19 Still Have Significant Risk of Death, UF Study Finds
Patients who have recovered from severe COVID-19 have more than twice the mortality risk within the year following their illness than people who have not contracted the virus. The study by University of Florida researchers, who previously reported that patients who had a severe case of the disease were more... Read More
COVID-19 Spread Undetected in U.S., Europe Earlier Than Believed, Study Shows, Offering Lessons for Future Outbreaks, Including Transmission of Omicron Variant
Local COVID-19 transmission was underway in California, New York, Florida, and Texas well before the first reported U.S. case in Washington state on Jan. 20, 2020, according to a new study published in Nature, which indicates the virus spread much earlier and faster in the United States and Europe than previously thought.