{"635887":{"#nid":"635887","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Collaborative Covid-19 Research Receives National Science Foundation RAPID Grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/people\/joshua-weitz\u0022\u003EJoshua Weitz\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/biosciences.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E and director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/qbios.gatech.edu\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EInterdisciplinary Ph.D. in Quantitative Biosciences Program\u003C\/a\u003E, will expand Covid-19 research on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/635137\/immunity-recovered-covid-19-patients-could-cut-risk-expanding-economic-activity\u0022\u003Eshield immunity\u003C\/a\u003E thanks to a new\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/news\/special_reports\/announcements\/041720.jsp\u0022\u003E National Science Foundation (NSF) Rapid Response Research (RAPID)\u003C\/a\u003E grant.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeitz shares that the NSF support is important for a newly developed collaborative effort with\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sph.emory.edu\/faculty\/profile\/index.php?FID=benjamin-lopman-8568\u0022\u003E Benjamin Lopman\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor of epidemiology in Emory University\u0026#39;s\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sph.emory.edu\/index.html\u0022\u003E Rollins School of Public Health\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe partnership builds on \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/635137\/immunity-recovered-covid-19-patients-could-cut-risk-expanding-economic-activity\u0022\u003Ea recent study\u003C\/a\u003E that Weitz and a dozen scientists from Georgia Tech, McMaster University, and Princeton University published in\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41591-020-0895-3\u0022\u003E Nature Medicine\u003C\/a\u003E, modeling the potential impacts of serological tests to reduce Covid-19 epidemic spread.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESerological tests, or antibody tests, examine blood for traces of antibodies that could indicate past exposure to the virus, and potential levels of immunity. Identifying recovered Covid-19 patients \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/635137\/immunity-recovered-covid-19-patients-could-cut-risk-expanding-economic-activity\u0022\u003Ecould help cut the risk\u003C\/a\u003E of expanding economic activity and help minimize infection rates as stay-at-home restrictions are lifted.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;The core idea of \u0026#39;shield immunity\u0026#39; is to facilitate interaction substitution enabling recovered individuals to substitute for otherwise risky interactions with infectious individuals,\u0026quot;\u0026nbsp;says Weitz, a researcher in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at Georgia Tech. \u0026ldquo;This could potentially reduce transmission risk and foster a safer return to economic activity. This NSF award will be catalytic to our efforts to learn more about the intervention benefits of shield immunity, even as we learn more about the extent to which recovery implies protection from reinfection.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe NSF\u0026rsquo;s RAPID grant program \u0026ldquo;allows NSF to receive and review proposals having a severe urgency with regard to availability of or access to data, facilities or specialized equipment, as well as quick-response research on natural or anthropogenic disasters and similar unanticipated events,\u0026rdquo; according to the NSF website.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe agency sent an April 3 \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/pubs\/2020\/nsf20052\/nsf20052.jsp\u0022\u003E\u0026ldquo;Dear Colleague\u0026rdquo; letter\u003C\/a\u003E to the science community, in which it announced it would accept proposals to conduct non-medical, non-clinical-care research that could be used immediately \u0026ldquo;to explore how to model and understand the spread of Covid-19, to inform and educate about the science of virus transmission and prevention, and to encourage the development of processes and actions to address this global challenge.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech and Emory project combines epidemic models of Covid-19 with antibody testing modules to develop approaches to enable shield immunity in practice. \u0026ldquo;We are particularly grateful for the expedited support by NSF of Covid-19 research at the dynamic interplay between disease dynamics and serological testing,\u0026rdquo; Weitz says.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeitz\u0026rsquo;s lab, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ecotheory.biosci.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ethe Weitz Group at Georgia Tech\u003C\/a\u003E, researches how viruses transform human health and the fate of the planet. Weitz is also the founding director of the\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/qbios.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E Quantitative Biosciences Ph.D. Program\u003C\/a\u003E. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the group has created various models and figures to explain the virus\u0026#39; spread and epidemiology.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeitz and two other professors,\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Philip-Santangelo\u0022\u003E Philip Santangelo\u003C\/a\u003E with Tech\u0026rsquo;s\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E, and\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fredhutch.org\/en\/faculty-lab-directory\/bedford-trevor.html\u0022\u003E Travis Bedford\u003C\/a\u003E with the Vaccine and Infectious Diseases Division of Seattle\u0026rsquo;s\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.fredhutch.org\/en.html\u0022\u003E Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center\u003C\/a\u003E, held a Georgia Tech\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/georgia-tech-science-forum-spotlights-coronavirus-outbreak\u0022\u003E forum\u003C\/a\u003E in early February on what scientists were saying then about the potential strength, speed, and size of the pandemic.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn April 15, Weitz led an online \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=arJcDNnQHIQ\u0022\u003Enonlinear science talk\u003C\/a\u003E on \u0026ldquo;Dynamics of Covid-19: Near- and Long-Term Challenges.\u0026rdquo; In the talk, he shared a preview of the research in the Nature Medicine study, focusing on the need for accurate antibody tests to determine who may have recovered from the disease and may have levels of immunity. \u0026ldquo;The scale and type of testing matters,\u0026rdquo; Weitz said then. \u0026ldquo;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/meet-marine-biologist-helping-create-covid-19-test-kits\u0022\u003EPCR [polymerase chain reaction] testing\u003C\/a\u003E provides a snapshot: Are you shedding virus now? Serological testing, when accurate, provides a history: Have you been infected recently or in the past?\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Cem\u003EEditor\u0026#39;s note: In keeping with changes to Georgia Tech\u0026#39;s editorial guidance, on June 1, 2020 we transition from \u0026quot;COVID-19\u0026quot; to \u0026quot;Covid-19\u0026quot; in our stories and posts. \u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAntibody testing research, led by Biological Sciences\u0026rsquo; Joshua Weitz and Emory University professor Benjamin Lopman, earns an NSF urgent funding grant to further study Covid-19 \u0026lsquo;shield immunity\u0026rsquo;.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Antibody testing research, led by Biological Sciences\u2019 Joshua Weitz and Emory University professor Benjamin Lopman, earns an NSF urgent funding grant to further study Covid-19 \u2018shield immunity\u2019."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2020-06-02 04:06:30","changed_gmt":"2020-07-12 18:44:46","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2020-06-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"635886":{"id":"635886","type":"image","title":"Serological tests, or antibody tests, examine blood for traces of antibodies that could indicate past exposure to Coronavirus.","body":null,"created":"1591070535","gmt_created":"2020-06-02 04:02:15","changed":"1591070535","gmt_changed":"2020-06-02 04:02:15","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241946","name":"COVID.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/COVID.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/COVID.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":52954,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/COVID.JPG?itok=OmTqTfyB"}},"632658":{"id":"632658","type":"image","title":"Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Source: cdc.gov","body":null,"created":"1582141316","gmt_created":"2020-02-19 19:41:56","changed":"1582141316","gmt_changed":"2020-02-19 19:41:56","alt":"","file":{"fid":"240717","name":"coronavirus_forum_fb_event_cover copy.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/coronavirus_forum_fb_event_cover%20copy.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/coronavirus_forum_fb_event_cover%20copy.png","mime":"image\/png","size":417321,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/coronavirus_forum_fb_event_cover%20copy.png?itok=JDfhKSjP"}},"635045":{"id":"635045","type":"image","title":"Joshua Weitz, professor, School of Biological Sciences ","body":null,"created":"1588625892","gmt_created":"2020-05-04 20:58:12","changed":"1588625892","gmt_changed":"2020-05-04 20:58:12","alt":"","file":{"fid":"241667","name":"Weitz.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Weitz.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Weitz.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":629497,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Weitz.jpg?itok=mxzUMxcw"}}},"media_ids":["635886","632658","635045"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/rh.gatech.edu\/news\/635137\/immunity-recovered-covid-19-patients-could-cut-risk-expanding-economic-activity","title":"Immunity of Recovered COVID-19 Patients Could Cut Risk of Expanding Economic Activity"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=arJcDNnQHIQ","title":"\u0022Dynamics of COVID-19: Near- and Long-Term Challenges\u0022 with Joshua S. Weitz"},{"url":"https:\/\/c.gatech.edu\/COVID19Help","title":"Georgia Tech: Covid-19 Helping Stories"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"184289","name":"covid-19"},{"id":"126571","name":"go-PetitInstitute"},{"id":"183843","name":"coronavirus"},{"id":"184991","name":"serological testing"},{"id":"184992","name":"antibody tests"},{"id":"184753","name":"serology"},{"id":"363","name":"NSF"},{"id":"184993","name":"rapid grant"},{"id":"11599","name":"Joshua Weitz"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ERenay San Miguel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Officer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n404-894-5209\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}