SARS-CoV2 Research Initiatives
Because of the ongoing COVID19 pandemic this FY21, the BU Genome Science Institute carried out a specially-directed research initiative to support three projects with clear genomics components matching our priorities towards combating SARS-CoV2.
- Dr. John Connor (PhD, BUSM Dept of Microbiology, NEIDL Investigator, GSI faculty member) for the BU CoGSofHoPe project (Coronavirus Genome Surveillance of Hospital Personnel). GSI has supported this project with library construction reagents and sequencing efforts to monitor the genomes of SARS-CoV2 virus samples within the BMC and BU community.
- Dr. Nader Rahimi (PhD. Department of Pathology, GSI Faculty member) for the project studying Lectins, SARS-CoV-2 and Endothelial Cell Injury.
- Dr. Andrew Emili (Professor of Biology and Biochemistry; Director, Center for Network Systems Biology) for the project describing Actionable Cytopathogenic Host Responses of Human Alveolar Type 2 Cells to SARS-CoV-2 .
We congratulate all three PI’s and their labs for advancing our understanding of SARS-CoV2 virus biology and look forward to hearing their work in combating this pandemic while preparing better for potential future pandemics.