Coronavirus news, funding and resources for global health researchers

Transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2. Courtesy of NIAID-RML.

In December 2019, an outbreak of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, was detected in mainland China. Researchers have been tracking the spread of the virus, mobilizing to speed innovative diagnostics, establishing treatment guidelines and working on a number of vaccines to protect against COVID-19.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) leads NIH COVID-19 clinical research, and NIH research to develop therapeutics and vaccines for coronaviruses.

Fogarty grantees, trainees and fellows across geographic areas and research disciplines are helping to lead and support COVID-19 response efforts and research activities in some low-resource countries and regions.

Minor revisions November 24, 2020 | Major revisions July 15, 2020

NIH Initiatives

Strategic Plan: NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research
Request for Information (RFI): Inviting Comments and Suggestions on the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research (NOT-OD-21-018)
Submit responses by December 7, 2020
Testing: Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative
Treatments and Vaccines Research: Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV), a public-private partnership
Treatment Guidelines: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines
Submission portal: NIH COVID-19 Candidate and Technologies Portal for submission of diagnostic, therapeutic, vaccine, and other candidates or technologies with near-term potential for testing against COVID-19

Latest Research News

Transmission heterogeneities, kinetics, and controllability of SARS-CoV-2, featuring Fogarty's Dr Kaiyuan Sun as lead author, and Fogarty's Dr Cecile Viboud as co-senior author
Science, November 24, 2020
Treatments for people with early COVID-19 infection is an urgent research focus
NIAID/NIH news, November 11, 2020
NIH calls on clinical researchers to swiftly share COVID-19 results
NIH news, November 10, 2020
NIH begins large clinical trial [at medical facilities in the US and Latin America] to test immune modulators for treatment of COVID-19
NIH news, October 16, 2020
Accommodating individual travel history and unsampled diversity in Bayesian phylogeographic inference of SARS-CoV-2 [Open access], co-authored by Fogarty's Dr Martha Nelson
Nature Communications, October 9, 2020
Investigational COVID-19 vaccine well-tolerated and generates immune response in older adults
NIAID/NIH news, September 29, 2020
Scientists discover genetic and immunologic underpinnings of some cases of severe COVID-19
NIAID/NIH news, September 24, 2020
NIH expands clinical trials to test convalescent plasma against COVID-19
NIAID/NIH news, September 22, 2020
NIH ACTIV initiative launches adaptive clinical trials of blood-clotting treatments for COVID-19, with trials conducted at more than 100 sites around the world
NHLBI/NIH news, September 10, 2020
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in Europe and North America, co-authored by Fogarty's Dr Martha Nelson
Science, September 10, 2020
Opinion: Coming to terms with the real bioterrorist behind Covid-19: nature, co-authored by NIAID's Dr David M Morens and Fogarty senior scientist emeritus Dr Joel Breman
STAT, September 9, 2020
In preparation for a COVID-19-influenza double epidemic featuring Fogarty's Dr Nidia Trovao
The Lancet Microbe, September 1, 2020
NIH-supported study to track prevalence and impact of SARS-CoV-2 among pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries
NICHD/NIH news, September 1, 2020
Phase 3 clinical testing in the US of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine candidate begins
NIAID/NIH news, August 31, 2020
Emerging pandemic diseases: How we got to COVID-19, co-authored by NIAID Director Dr Anthony S Fauci
Cell, August 15, 2020
HIV and COVID-19 Virtual Issue
Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS), continuously updated, released July 11, 2020

Training Resources for Researchers

Virtual seminar series: Ethics themes and recommendations in the context of the #COVID19 research response
November 2, 16 and 30, 2020
Hosted by Epidemics Ethics, PHEPREN and the Global Forum on Bioethics in Research (GFBR)
Course series: OpenWHO COVID-19 Course Series - free online courses available in many languages
Training resources: Training resources for coronavirus workers dealing with the spread of COVID-19
NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Worker Training Program
Train the trainer: COVID-19 training modules for healthcare workers
from Strengthening Interprofessional Education to Improve HIV Care Across Africa (STRIPE HIV), supported by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Webinar series: Monthly COVID-19 webinars
African Forum for Research and Education in Health (AFREhealth)
Webinar series: Life during a Pandemic: How academia responds
Northern Pacific Global Health Fellowship Program
Webinar series: COVID-19 tele-education series for healthcare providers in low- and middle-income countries
Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health
Course: COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Course: COVID-19 Diagnostics and Testing in Low-income Settings
FutureLearn

Bioethics Resources and News

Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Ethics Network (PHEPREN) - Led by WHO and supported by key partners including Fogarty/NIH. Currently focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, offers resources, policy briefs, webinars and an ethics advisory platform.
COVID-19 resources - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Pandemic ethics resources - University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Center for Bioethics
News: New COVID-19 Law Lab to provide vital legal information and support for the global COVID-19 response
WHO news, July 22, 2020

COVID-19 Law Lab, a joint project of WHO, UNDP, UNAIDS, the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law and Georgetown University

Guidance: English: Guidance and strategies to streamline ethics review and oversight of COVID-19 related research
Spanish: Orientación y estrategias para agilizar la revisión y supervisión éticas de investigaciones relacionadas con COVID-19
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), updated April 10, 2020
News: Guidance on COVID-19 human subjects protection
HHS Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), April 8, 2020
News: FDA Guidance on Conduct of Clinical Trials of Medical Products during COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, March 2020

Research Projects and Clinical Trials

Coronavirus related trials from ClinicalTrials.gov
COVID-19 studies from the World Health Organization database from ClinicalTrials.gov
Clinical Trials Community (CTC), an African Academy of Sciences platform
Coronavirus research supported by NIH from NIH RePORTER
COVID-19 awards made by HHS using emergency supplemental appropriation funding
HHS Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS)
COVID-19 Research Project Tracker from the UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR) and the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R)

Fogarty, NIH Global Health Communities
Respond to COVID

Jul / Aug 2020 Global Health Matters

More stories on how the Fogarty and NIH global health communities are responding to COVID-19

Scientific Publications

Emerging research now available through new NIH preprint pilot to help accelerate dissemination of research on the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19
NIH Office of Extramural Research blog post, June 9, 2020
The National Library of Medicine expands access to coronavirus literature through PubMed Central
NLM/NIH news, March 25, 2020
LitCovid - a curated literature hub for tracking up-to-date scientific information about the 2019 novel Coronavirus
National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine/NIH
iSearch COVID-19 portfolio - NIH’s comprehensive, curated source for publications related to COVID-19