UF Health Researchers Join National Study of COVID-19 Impacts on Health Workers, Potential Remedies
A new research program to understand the effect of COVID-19 on health care workers is soon to be underway at University of Florida Health and other sites across the country. A clinical trial to evaluate whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19 infections is also being planned. The Healthcare Worker Exposure and Outcomes, or HERO, initiative has two parts — a […]
Nursing Program Switches to Virtual Education With Shadow Health
The rise of COVID-19 may have caused cancellations across much of the United States, but healthcare professionals never stop treating those in need. The Liberty University School of Nursing hasn’t paused adapting its program to a virtual format while continuing to train the next generation of nurses on the frontline of patient care. As is the case […]
UF Veterinary College’s Efforts Yield Vehicles Loaded With Protective Gear for Front-Line Teams
Before the UF College of Veterinary Medicine was asked by UF Health to donate extra personal protective equipment to health workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, members of the college’s leadership team anticipated such a request. “Maybe a month before everything happened, our internal leadership team, led by Dr. Dana Zimmel, our interim dean, had discussed that veterinarians […]
Sid Martin Startup Alchem Awarded $20.7M for Clinical Trials on Potential COVID-19 Therapies
President Trump has pledged to release billions in funding to fight the coronavirus. Now, information from the Federal Procurement Data System shows well over $3.02 billion has been spent to date, almost half of which has come out of the Health and Human Services (HHS) department. UF Innovate | Sid Martin Biotech startup Alchem Laboratories […]
Sinclair, Altavian Partner to Use 3-D Technology to Print Masks
UF startup Altavian, a drone maker that supplies the US military, and Sinclair College, a Dayton, Ohio-based community college, have partnered to rapidly produce and freely distribute N95 equivalent masks to front-line medical workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sinclair and Altavian will work collaboratively to make sure masks are available to local providers and in […]
An Interest in Bat Viruses Led to UF Health Virologist’s Development of Coronavirus Test
The UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of environmental and global health and the UF Emerging Pathogens Institute, are leading a joint, around-the-clock effort to better understand and track the coronavirus in health care and community settings. The effort involves numerous scientists, laboratory technicians and support staff working tirelessly behind the scenes […]
Assistant Professor Develops a Rapid Point-of-Care Detection Technology for SARS-Cov-2
Piyush Jain, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of UF Health Cancer Center, and his Ph.D. student Long Nguyen have developed a CRISPR-based, paper-based, rapid detection technology that can detect SARS-CoV-2 cDNA in as little as 5-10 minutes or SARS-CoV-2 RNA in as low as 30-60 minutes without the need of expensive […]
COVID-19 and Food Safety: Fact and Fiction for Food Production
Consumers are being bombarded with tips for what to do with their groceries during the coronavirus crisis. Leave them in the garage for three days? Wash the produce with soapy water? Wipe all packaging down with disinfectant wipes? Listen to the science, say University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Food Science and Human […]
DiaCarta Gets FDA Emergency Use Authorization for Coronavirus PCR Test
UF Innovate | Sid Martin Biotech alum DiaCarta, a molecular diagnostic firm, has obtained the Emergency Use Authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration for its QuantiVirus PCR diagnostic (Dx) test for the novel coronavirus. The test detects the N, Orf1ab, and E genes of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in nasopharyngeal swabs, oropharyngeal swabs, and […]
The Big Picture: EPI’s Director Speaks About the Covid-19 Pandemic
The Emerging Pathogens Institute was formed in 2006 to bring researchers across disciplines together with the goal of better understanding and anticipating new disease-causing microorganisms that affect people, plants, and animals. Much of its research is focused globally, with an eye toward what might affect the State of Florida. But for the first time, the […]