UCI COVID-19 Self-Reported Research Projects/Planning
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| Covid-19 Research Status | Last Name, First Name, Degree | Title | Contact email | Primary Appt School | Primary Appt Department | Type(s) of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research that is currently being performed and/or planned. | If "Other". Please describe. | Key words that best describe your project. | Description of current or planned SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 research. | Collaborating with one or more co-investigators? | If collaborating, list of co-investigators. |
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| Currently conducting research | Chaput, John PhD | Professor | jchaput@uci.edu | Medicine | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Therapies | synthetic antibodies, therapeutic aptamers, XNA | Yes | Brain Paegel, PharmSci UCI | ||
| Currently conducting research | Goldstein, Steve MD, PhD | Distinguished Professor | sgoldst2@uci.edu | Medicine | Pediatrics, Physiology & Biophysics | ion channels, innate immunity, inhibitors of viral entry and replication | The Goldstein lab studies the mechanistic basis for ion channel function in health and disease. The ongoing projects that relate to COVID-19 involve the role of potassium and proton channels in viral replication; inhibitors of protein-protein interaction; and, innate and adaptive immunity. | Yes | Ruiming Zhao, UCI | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Agrawal, Anshu, Ph.D. | Professor In Residence | aagrawal@uci.edu | Medicine | Medicine | Host immune responses,Pathogenesis | Aging; dendritic cells; airway epithelial cells; innate immunity; pathogenesis | We plan to compare the response of dendritic cells from aged and young subjects to inactivated COVID-19 as well as its proteins. The response of airway epithelial cells from aged and young subjects to COVID-19 will also be compared. | No | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Andricioaei, Ioan Ph.D. | Professor | andricio@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Genomics,Molecular virology,Vaccine development,Other | Molecular dynamics computer simulations | atomic structure, molecular biophysics, computer simulations, molecular dynamics, free energy | We are performing computer simulations of the role of the spike proteins and its mutants in the coronavirus in mediating cell fusion and in antibody binding. | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Billimek, John, PhD | Associate Professor | jbillime@uci.edu | Medicine | Family Medicine | Public Health,Other | Qualitative research on social impacts of COVID-19 in a medically underserved minority community | social impacts; qualitative; health beliefs; access to care; social distancing | Interviews with low-income Latino and Asian American community members on the perceived individual and societal benefits and costs of social distancing and knowledge and attitudes related to seeking care in response to concerning symptoms. | Yes | Vanessa Kauffman, PhD Candidate; Dept. of Sociology, vkauff@uci.edu David Kilgore, Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, dkilgore@uci.edu |
| Currently conducting research. | Borelli, Jessica, Ph.D. | Associate Professor | jessica.borelli@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Psychological Science | Public Health,Therapies,Other | factors that might promote social distancing, also associated mental health consequences of social distancing/quarantine | mental health, anxiety, isolation, stress, depression | I am involved in three studies examining the mental health consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak. In one study conducted at UCI, my colleagues (Amir Rahmani, Nik Dutt, Ramesh Jain) and I are monitoring the stress and mental health of students during their in shelter social distancing. We have also proposed to test the impact of personalized interventions designed to improve the likelihood that they adhere to social distancing via stress reduction (mindfulness-based stress reduction) and the reduction of feelings of social isolation (social connectedness intervention) delivered via smartphone app-system (Personicle) developed at UCI. We have applied for funding to support this study (UCI (CRAFT)-COVID award). In another study conducted with a large group of collaborators around the globe, we are conducting a large study of college freshmen's mental health. We have an assessment conducted earlier this year and will conduct another assessment within the next few weeks, now with an eye toward post-COVID-19 adjustment. This study is under review by NSF-RAPID. In a third study conducted in collaboration with a colleague from Yeshiva, we are assessing parent-child relationships as impacted by COVID-19 among children ages 6-12. | Yes | Study 1: Amir Rahmani (Assistant Prof, Nursing, UCI); Nikil Dutt (Distinguished Prof, Computer Science, UCI); Ramesh Jain (Distinguished Prof, CS; UCI) Study 2: June Gruber, Assistant Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder, June.gruber@colorado.edu Study 3: Jordan Bate, Assistant Prof, Yeshiva University, jordan.bate@gmail.com |
| Currently conducting research. | Bota, Daniela | Associate Professor, In line | dbota@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Neurology | Clinical trial(s),Vaccine development | Clinical Trials, drug and device development, biobanking | To offer clinical trial support as well as regulatory expertise for all UCI researchers involved in clinical and translational COVID 19 research. | Yes | multiple investigators from the College of Health Science, and different schools | |
| Currently conducting research. | Brody, James, PhD | Assistant Professor | jpbrody@uci.edu | Engineering | Biomedical Engineering | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Genomics,Natural history | genomics, GWAS, UK Biobank, machine learning | We are searching for a genetic test that could differentiate those who have severe reactions to COVID-19 from those who are asymptomatic. Using methods developed for other conditions, we are applying machine learning techniques to chromosome-scale length variation data from COVID-19 patients. This data is collected by UK Biobank. | Yes | UK Biobank is providing the data. | |
| Currently conducting research. | Burke, Peter, PhD | Professor | pburke@uci.edu | Engineering | Electrical Engineering & Computer Science | Diagnostics,Genomics,Molecular virology,Other | point of care , lab on a chip | antibody sensing | antibody sensing | Yes | other universities |
| Currently conducting research. | Burton, Candace PhD | Assistant Professor | cwburton@hs.uci.edu | Nursing | Nursing Science | Public Health,Other | Impact of COVID closures on college students, including racial bias experiences | International, survey, students, racial bias | Collaborative international study of college students affected by COVID-19 related university closures including incidents of racial bias against those of Asian descent. | Yes | Jeanine Guidry, PhD Assistant Professor Virginia Commonwealth University Robertson School of Media and Culture Director, Media+Health Lab guidryjd@vcu.edu www.jeanineguidry.com |
| Currently conducting research. | Butts, Carter, PhD | Professor | buttsc@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Sociology | Epidemiology,Public Health,Therapies,Other | Analysis of social media messaging strategies used by agencies to reach the public regarding COVID-19, and their effectiveness. (Note: we have three completely distinct projects right now, of which this is one.) | molecular modeling, docking, diffusion modeling, social media analysis, data analysis | We have three COVID-19 projects going at this time: (1) Identifying Robust Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease (MPro) Variants via Molecular Modeling and Docking Studies - This project involves the use of MD simulations of clinically discovered and predicted MPro variants, followed by docking and statistical analysis, to identify potential MPro inhibitors that are robust to observed and probable mutations from wild type. It is connected to a consortium led by Rachel Martin, including synthetic and biophysical chemistry researchers as well as fellow computational researchers (notably Doug Tobias). At present, my lab is doing the specific activities above. (2) Modeling of Potential Geographic Variability in SARS-CoV-2 Diffusion, with Implications for Distancing Interventions - This project involves the modification of our existing approaches to modeling large-scale interpersonal networks to modeling diffusion networks for SARS-CoV-2 at the city or regional scale with individual-level granularity. Our objective is to understand how heterogeneity in spatial demography may interact with distancing interventions to either create or inhibit local surges in cases at a scale that affects the operations of hospitals or other local health care systems. (We are also teaming up with colleagues in Seattle and Australia on this, but currently are in the process of adapting our extant modeling scheme and running pilot simulations.) (3) Effective Online Messaging for COVID-19 - This study involves a collaboration with Jeannette Sutton at UK to study social media communications by public agencies regarding COVID-19, and to identify content, style, and contextual effects that impact effectiveness with respect to transmission and engagement outcomes. This is currently under review as an NSF RAPID, and we have begun data collection (we have an extensive experience in and infrastructure for this type of research). | Yes | Rachel Martin, Professor, Chemistry/MB&B Doug Tobais, Professor, Chemistry Jeannette Sutton, Professor at UKY Zack Almquist, Professor at UW Pavel Krivitsky, Lecturer (UK-style system) at UNSW (Australia) Various other folks indirectly as part of the UCI MPro consortium |
| Currently conducting research. | Camacho, Alejandro, JD, LLM | Professor | acamacho@law.uci.edu | Law or Business | Law | Other | Government regulatory organization and response | Federal government, pandemic response, directorate | I am researching and writing about the Organization and re-organization of the federal government in preparation for and response to the pandemic | Yes | Robert Glicksman, George Washington University |
| Currently conducting research. | Canepa, Matthew. Ph.D. | Professor and Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Presidential Chair in Art History and Archaeology of Ancient Iran | canepam@uci.edu | Humanities or Arts | Art History | Other | |||||
| Currently conducting research. | Chen, Yunan | Associate Professor | yunanc@ics.uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Informatics | Other | |||||
| Currently conducting research. | Choi, Bernard, PhD | Professor | choib@uci.edu | Medicine | Surgery (50/50 with Biomedical Engineering) | Other | 1) Working with Bridge Ventilator Consortium (led by Brian Wong and Tom Milner) on ventilator development. Current co-lead (with Elliot Botvinick) on conversion of CPAP machines to a ventilator. 2) Part of group collaborating with Aditi Sharma (resident, Dermatology) on mask development. Planning test of flexible mask idea, once supplies are received. | ventilator, mask | 1) Working with Bridge Ventilator Consortium (led by Brian Wong and Tom Milner) on ventilator development. Current co-lead (with Elliot Botvinick) on conversion of CPAP machines to a ventilator. 2) Part of group collaborating with Aditi Sharma (resident, Dermatology) on mask development. Planning test of flexible mask idea, once supplies are received. | Yes | Tom Milner, Beckman Laser Institute, milnert@uci.edu Brian Wong, Otolaryngology/Beckman Laser Institute, bjwong@uci.edu Matt Brenner, Beckman Laser Institute, mbrenner@uci.edu Elliot Botvinick, Surgery/Biomedical Engineering/Beckman Laser Institute, elliot.botvinick@uci.edu Kristen Kelly, Dermatology/Beckman Laser Institute, kmkelly@uci.edu Aditi Sharma, Dermatology, aasharma@hs.uci.edu |
| Currently conducting research. | Cooper, Keiland | Graduate Student | kwcooper@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Neurobiology & Behavior | Biostatistics,Diagnostics,Public Health,Other | Loss of sensory function | smell, AI, ML, anosmia, data-science | Member of GCCR studying loss of sensory symptoms Predicting ventilator need in patients. | Yes | |
| Currently conducting research. | Digman, Michelle | Associate Professor | mdigman@uci.edu | Engineering | Biomedical Engineering | Fluorescence based assays | I'm willing to collaborate with other researchers on campus. My lab will be able to measure FRET either fluorescence quencher based or donor/acceptor based for rapid diagnostic | Yes | |||
| Currently conducting research. | Dong, Vy, PhD | Professor | dongv@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Therapies | synthesis, inhibitors, medicinal, chemistry, SAR | work with Nowick and Martin lab on making inhibitors for COVID-19 | Yes | Rachel Martin, Professor, chemistry, rachem.martin@uci.edu James Nowick, Professor, chemistry, jsnowick@uci.edu |
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| Currently conducting research. | Donovan, Richard P | Assistant Director for Sustainable Smart Manufacturing | rpdonova@uci.edu | Engineering | California Institute for Telecomunictions & Information technologies | Public Health,Other | |||||
| Currently conducting research. | Felgner, Philip, PhD | Professor In Residence | pfelgner@uci.edu | Medicine | Physiology & Biophysics | Clinical trial(s),Diagnostics,Host immune responses,Public Health,Vaccine development | Serology, Serosurveillance, Antibody, Vaccine, Antigen | We constructed a microarray containing 65 proteins from 13 viruses that cause acute respiratory infections including SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2, MERS, the common coronaviruses, influenza, RSV, Rinovirus, metapneumovirus, parainfluenza, and adenovirus. The array measures antigen specific antibody levels in the blood of people who have been exposed to the viruses. Blood collected from people several years ago lack Abs against all of the novel coronaviruses, whereas blood from people confirmed SARS-COV-2 infected patients have high Ab titers. The serological results from this coronavirus antigen array will inform the public health system, diagnostic development, and vaccine discovery. | Yes | Marc Marc <marcmadou@me.com> Gregory Weiss <gweiss@uci.edu> |
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| Currently conducting research. | Fleischman, Angela MD PhD | Assistant Professor | agf@uci.edu | Medicine | Medicine | Host immune responses,Pathogenesis | inflammation, host factors, susceptibility | We hypothesize that people with clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), the presence of mutant cells in the peripheral blood commonly seen with aging, are more likely to suffer from severe consequences of COVID-19 due to an overexuberant production of inflammatory cytokines. We will be screening COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization for CHIP and determining whether this population is enriched for CHIP. We are also asking whether among people hospitalized with COVID-19, are the people with CHIP more likely to need ICU care. | Yes | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Fouda, Moatasem | Graduate Student | mafouda@uci.edu | Engineering | Materials Science & Engineering | Other | Low Cost Medical Ventilator | Yes | Haithem Taha, UCI, hetaha@uci.edu Raghda Fouda, UCI and Cairo University, foudar@uci.edu |
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| Currently conducting research. | Fouda,Raghda, MD PhD | Researcher | foudar@uci.edu | Medicine | Dynamics & Control Lab at the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering of Henry Samueli School of Engineering. | Other | ventilator | simple easy manufacture ventilator to help to solve the current increasing demand on ventilators | Yes | Moatasem Fouda, Ph.D. candidate, Dynamics, and Control Lab.mafouda@uci.edu Haithem Taha, assistant professor , Dynamics, and Control Lab.hetaha@uci.edu |
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| Currently conducting research. | Freites, Juan, Ph.D. | Associate Project Scientist | jfreites@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Molecular virology,Therapies | Molecular modeling, virtual screening, antiviral inhibitors, SARS-CoV-2 main protease, drug resistance | The coronavirus main protease (Mpro) is a key component of the machinery SARS-CoV-2 uses to replicate itself. We are using state-of-the-art supercomputers to identify potential drugs that will inhibit the action Mpro. Our overall approach follows those used in the past to identify effective antivirals against HIV. On a parallel track, we are using supercomputers to generate molecular-level insights into the behavior of the enzyme itself under laboratory and physiological conditions. | Yes | Doug Tobias (Chemistry) and I are part of a large collaborative effort at UCI. Primary collaborators are Rachel Martin (Chemistry) Carter Butts (CalIt2) and James Nowick (Chemistry). | |
| Currently conducting research. | Gabriel, Kristin, PhD | Ph.D. Candidate | kngabrie@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Molecular Biology & Biochemistry | Diagnostics | virus bioresistor, antibodies, diagnostics | Virus BioResistor to Detect Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies for COVID-19 Disease Status Monitoring | Yes | PI: Gregory Weiss (Professor, Departments of Chemistry, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Schools of Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences) Co-I: Reg Penner (Professor, Department of Chemistry in the School of Physical Sciences) Co-I: Philip Felgner (Professor in Residence, Department of Physiology & Biophysics in the School of Medicine) |
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| Currently conducting research. | Garcia, Samantha, MPH | Ph.D. Candidate | Samantg4@uci.edu | Public Health | Public Health | Public Health | Anxiety, sociocultural factors, individual factors, economic factors | Individual factors, sociocultural factors and economic factors associated with COVID 19 related anxiety. | Yes | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Gershon Paul | Professor | pgershon@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Molecular Biology & Biochemistry | Host immune responses | Protein mass spectrometry molecular immunology, Mucosal immunity | Respiratory mucosal immunity by protein profiling | |||
| Currently conducting research. | Gervin, Joshua, Ph.D. | Assistant specialist | jgervin@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Developmental & Cell Biology | Epidemiology,Public Health,Other | Population Modeling of COVID-19 spread | Epidemiology, Modeling, Social networks, Physiology, Public Health | Epidemiological models, such as the Imperial College model for COVID-19, are extremely important in helping shape public policy in dealing with a viral pandemic. How accurate these current models are in describing the COVID-19 outbreak remains unknown. If these models end up being inaccurate, part of the problem could be in the assumptions of the models themselves. Simple epidemiological models, such as the “Susceptible-Infected-Removed" SIR model, tend to assume a well-stirred population where interactions are random. More complex models, such as the Imperial College model, attempt to move away from these assumptions, but perhaps insufficiently. My PI, Arthur D. Lander, and myself are exploring a more rigorous physiological model approach as an alternative to the traditional SIR model where viral spread is modeled on social networks (interactions are realistic and simply not random). | No | |
| Currently conducting research. | Granger, Douglas, PhD | Chancelllors Professor | Dagrange@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Psychological Science | Host immune responses | |||||
| Currently conducting research. | Gu,Yanqi | Student | yanqig1@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Information & Computer Sciences | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Hameed, Afshan MD | Professor | ahameed@uci.edu | Medicine | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Clinical trial(s) | Pregnancy, prenatal care, Telemedicine, comparison | Drive through prenatal care Phone or video visits compared to regular prenatal care | No | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Hasen, Richard, JD, MA PhD | Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science | rhasen@law.uci.edu | Law or Business | Law | Other | Doing research on affect of virus on the ability to hold a fair and legitimate election in 2020 | election, political legitimacy, absentee balloting | Working with an ad hoc group of academics from law, tech, media, and politics on how to preserve the fairness and legitimacy of the 2020 elections, especially given stresses imposed on the election system by the coronavirus | Yes | Members of the ad hoc group: Foley, Edward <foley.33@osu.edu> Charles H Stewart <cstewart@mit.edu> Nate Persily <npersily@law.stanford.edu> Pildes, Rick <rick.pildes@nyu.edu> Brendan Nyhan <bnyhan@umich.edu> Andrew Appel <appel@cs.princeton.edu>; Liz Howard <howardl@brennan.law.nyu.edu> David Kaye <dkaye@law.uci.edu> Alex Stamos <stamos@stanford.edu> Tiana Epps-Johnson <tiana@techandciviclife.org> John Fortier <JFortier@bipartisanpolicy.org> Michael Morley <mmorley@law.fsu.edu> Nina Perales <nperales@maldef.org> Bertrall Ross <bertrallr@berkeley.edu> Ciara C Torres-Spelliscy <ctorress@law.stetson.edu> Azari, Julia <julia.azari@marquette.edu> Janai Nelson <jnelson@naacpldf.org> Norm Ornstein <normorn@aol.com> (AEI) Michael Tesler <mtesler2@gmail.com> (UCI) Bruce Cain <bcain@stanford.edu> Jack C Doppelt <j-doppelt@northwestern.edu> Cailin O'Connor <cailino@exchange.uci.edu> James Weatherall <weatherj@exchange.uci.edu> Jack Lerner <jlerner@law.uci.edu> |
| Currently conducting research. | Hayes, Gillian, PhD | Professor | Hayesg@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Informatics | Therapies | Behavioral intervention, Virtual Support Groups, Personal Informatics, Wearable Sensing, Virtual Reality | Two projects: (1) Virtual support groups for Alzheimer's patients in collaboration with Alzheimers OC as they move all their in person support groups online. (2) wearable sensing project for kids with ADHD; helping them self-regulate through sensing + mobile app. | Yes | On the ADHD project: Sabrina Schuck (pediatrics) and Kimberly Lakes (UCRiverside, Psychiatry) On the Alzheimer's Project: Craig Stark and Shauna Stark, Bio Sci |
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| Currently conducting research. | Holman, E. Alison, PhD, FNP | Associate Professor | aholman@uci.edu | Nursing | Nursing | Public Health,Other | risk perceptions, psychological and behavioral responses, etc | collective stress, risk perception, health behavior, psychological response, future fears | Our team will initiate a prospective longitudinal study of 5,000 people from the AmeriSpeak panel, a probability-based nationally representative sample of U.S. households on whom “baseline” mental and physical health data have been collected prior to the start of the COVID-19 threat in the U.S. Two surveys will be administered over the next year to examine respondents’ risk perceptions, fear, media use, health protective behaviors, and distress surrounding the outbreak. The sample will be drawn using sample stratification to assure sample representativeness with respect to age, gender, race/ethnicity, and Census Region. For Wave 1, the drawn sample will be randomly assigned to one of three nationally representative replicates (i.e., cohorts) that will have non-overlapping data collection periods of two calendar weeks, for a total of a six-week fielding period. Each cohort will thus represent a representative sample whose interviews are generalizable to point-in-time survey estimates for the two-week period to which the cohort is mapped. A second survey will be fielded on our Wave 1 sample within the next year, as the crisis unfolds (or abates). | Yes | ROXANE COHEN SILVER, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE UCI, rsilver@uci.edu DANA ROSE GARFIN, ASSISTANT ADJUNCT PROFESSOR IN NURSING SCIENCE, UCI dgarfin@uci.edu |
| Currently conducting research. | Hopfer, Suellen, PhD | Assistant Professor | shopfer@hs.uci.edu | Public Health | Population Health & Disease Prevention | Public Health,Other | Analyzing social media data with regards to public health messaging and response to pandemic | Public health messaging, social media, COVID attitudes and risk perceptions, risk communication | NSF Rapid proposal (pending) US national dataset to analyze about attitudes and trust | Yes | Chen Li (Computer science), Gloria Marks (informatics), Samuel Greiff (University of Luxembourg) |
| Currently conducting research. | Ito, Mizuko, PhD | Professor in Residence | mizukoi@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Informatics | Other | research on online learning and mental health support during COVID-19 crisis | mental health, online learning | We are conducting research on how online communication supports wellbeing and online learning. With COVID-19 we have a new opportunity to understand how online communication supports learning and wellbeing when children and youth are at home. | Yes | Katie Salen Candice Odgers Stephen Scheuller Constance Steinkuehler |
| Currently conducting research. | Jackson, Jesse, Architecture/Design | Associate, Associate Dean | j.c.jackson@uci.edu | Humanities or Arts | Art | Clinical trial(s),Public Health,Other | Distributed manufacturing of PPE. Rapid user trials of non-approved PPE. | design, cad/cam, rapid prototyping, additive manufacturing, distributed manufacturing | Part of an effort to adapt/modify/redesign existing PPE and other medical components for both standard mass manufacturing and community-based distributed manufacturing. | Yes | Lorenzo Valdevit (IDMI), Carolyn Stephens (AI), Ben Dolan (IDMI) |
| Currently conducting research. | Jiang, Sunny, Ph.D. | Professor | sjiang@uci.edu | Engineering | Civil & Environmental Engineering | Diagnostics,Public Health,Other | Environmental Persistence, aerosol transmission, Quantitative Risk Assessment | Risk Assessment, Environmental persistence, aerosol transmission | Environmental Persistence of SARS-CoV2 and Infection Risk through Aerosols and Contaminated Surfaces Person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 has been well established, but the role of the environmental factors is not well understood. Recent evidence suggests that live SARS-CoV2 viruses can persist in aerosols for 3 hours, 4 hours on metal surfaces, and 2-3 days on plastic surfaces. The viral RNA was recovered from Diamond Princess cruise ship cabins up to 17 days after the passengers left. Up to now, there have not been enough emphases on the aerosol and fomite transmission of this aggressive infectious disease. This research is to model the risk of aerosol and fomite transmission and to develop a microfluidic CD technology for environmental monitoring of SARS-CoV2. The outcomes of this research will inform public and decision-maker of immediate actions for public health protection. | Yes | |
| Currently conducting research. | Kheradvar, Arash, MD,PhD | Professor | arashkh@uci.edu | Engineering | Biomedical Engineering | Diagnostics | Aritifical Inteligence, Chest X-ray, Deep Learning, outcome prediction, cloud-based AI | Specific Aim 1. Develop and test an AI model based on COVID-19 patients' chest x-rays, physical exams, and medical history taken at the time of admission to emergency room to predict the disease outcome in quantitative terms in a clinically actionable timeframe. This aim will establish an AI model utilizing deep (19 layers or more) convolutional networks (CNNs) for feature extraction from the CXR image of COVID-19-positive patients in addition to their physical exams and medical history taken at the time of admission to the ER. In real time, the model predicts patients' final outcome after 14 days (mild, moderate, severe, or death) along with a particular prognosis probability. The AI model's performance will be verified based on the patients' final outcome, provided independently by the care team. Specific Aim 2. Establish a deep learning network to predict changes in the prognosis probability of COVID-19 patients during a 14-day hospital stay based on inpatient chest x-rays, medical history, and lab test results. To predict changes in COVID-19 patients' prognosis probability during their hospital stay, we will establish an AI model that captures the changes in admitted patients' CXRs taken serially during a 14-day hospital stay, along with medical history and their daily lab tests. To do so, an architecture including a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) will be used, which learns simultaneously from the reference data taken both on day 0 and subsequently on later days. Advanced adaptive and transfer machine learning techniques would synergistically improve analyses' accuracy whenever a new set of COVID-19 patient data is available. Specific Aim 3. Launch a cloud-based AI platform that employs the developed AI models for real-time server-based prediction of COVID-19 progress to help immediate clinical decision making in admitting patients. This platform will make it possible for the care team to securely upload COVID-19 patients' data and receive the prognosis probability in real time. We will ultimately test if using this platform improves decision-making for patient admission, in terms of the ratio of admitted patients whose final confirmed outcome is more severe (severe or death) to those with a less-severe (mild or moderate) confirmed outcome. | Yes | Hamid Jafarkhani, PhD, Chancellor Professor, EECS Alpesh Amin, MD, Professor, Medicine Biraj Bista, MD, Assistant Professor, Radiology | |
| Currently conducting research. | Kim, Soyun, Ph.D | Assistant Project Scientist | soyunk2@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Neurobiology & Behavior | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Kimonis, Virginia MD | Professor | vkimonis@uci,edu | Medicine | Pediatrics | Clinical trial(s),Natural history,Pathogenesis,Therapies | A trial of a therapy to reduce the effects of COVID 19 | No | |||
| Currently conducting research. | Kuan, Edward, MD | Assistant Clinical Professor | eckuan@uci.edu | Medicine | Otolaryngology | Therapies | Topical therapy | Topical nasal antiseptic treatment and prevention of COVID-19 infection | Yes | Collaborators: Hamid Djalilian, MD Harrison Lin, MD Mehdi Abouzari, MD, PhD | |
| Currently conducting research. | Lakey, Jonathan, PhD | Professor | jlakey@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Surgery | Diagnostics | detection, latent, immune memory, biomaterial | We're creating rapid test based on delayed hypersensitivity reaction, to detect both current and latent Covid-19 infection. | No | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Lau, Hien, BS | Junior Specialist | hlau2@uci.edu | Medicine | Surgery | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Public Health | lockdown, international, epicenters, air traffic, case-fatality risks | Our current and planned research focused on containing the spread of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 around the world. | Yes | 1. Veria Khosrawipour, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, University of California, Irvine, Orange, 92868 CA, USA and Department of Food Hygiene and Consumer Health Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375, Wroclaw, Poland 2. Tanja Khosrawipour, MD, PhD, Department of Surgery, University of California, Irvine, Orange, 92868 CA, USA and Department of Surgery (A), University-Hospital Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany 3. Jacek Bania, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Food Hygiene and Consumer Health Protection, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375, Wroclaw, Poland 4. Hirohito Ichii, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Surgery, University of California, Irvine, Orange, 92868 CA, USA 5. Piotr Kocbach, PhD, Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Warmia and Mazury, 10-719, Olsztyn, Poland |
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| Currently conducting research. | Lebeau, Lucie, MA in Economics | Ph.D. Candidate | Llebeau@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Economics | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Liu, Chang, PhD | Assistant Professor | ccl@uci.edu | Engineering | Biomedical Engineering | Diagnostics,Therapies | Antibody evolution, therapeutic proteins | We are using our hyper evolution systems to rapidly evolve new protein binders to coronavirus targets. | Yes | Andrew Kruse, Harvard Medical School | |
| Currently conducting research. | Lopez Camara, Claudia F. , Ph.D. Civil and Environmental Eng. | Graduate Student and Teacher Assistant | clopezca@uci.edu | Engineering | Chemical EE | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Luptak, Andrej, PhD | Professor | aluptak@uci.edu | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Diagnostics,Therapies | aptamer, structure-switching, sensing, spike glycoprotein | The goal of this project is to select RNA, DNA, and conformation-switching DNA aptamers that bind the SARS CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. The Specific Aims are: (1) Use rapid in vitro selections to enrich single-stranded RNA and DNA sequences (in parallel experiments) that bind the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and block its ability to bind to the ACE2 receptor on human cells; and (2) Generate conformation-switching aptamers that will be used for rapid development of an on-site diagnostic test. | Yes | Bert Semler, Prof. Microbiology and Mol Genetics, School of Medicine, Director, Center for Virus Research Michael Buchmeier, MB&B, BioSci; Division of Infectious Disease, Dept of Medicine, SoM |
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| Currently conducting research. | Martin, Rachel, Ph.D. | Professor | rachel.martin@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Biostatistics,Genomics,Molecular virology,Therapies,Other | Protease inhibitor design | SARS-CoV-1 main protease, protease inhibitor, antiviral, drug design, SAR by NMR | With colleagues, I am designing protease inhibitors against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease. We are using molecular modeling, statistical methods, and machine learning to select potential inhibitors which will then be synthesized and screened against the recombinantly expressed protease. | Yes | James Nowick (jsnowick@uci.edu) Chemistry Andrew Borovik (aborovik@uci.edu) Chemistry Carter Butts (buttsc@uci.edu) Calit Vy Dong (dongv@uci.edu) Chemistry Liz Jarvo (erjarvo@uci.edu) Chemistry Jennifer Prescher (jpresche@uci.edu) Chemistry Doug Tobias (dtobias@uci.edu) Chemistry |
| Currently conducting research. | Medina Huarita, Edith, PhD | Teaching Assistant | emedinah@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning | Public Health,Other | Social Science | low-income, renters, private rental sector, unemployment, mental and physical health | To understand how the pandemic affects the decision makings and stress of low-income renters in the City of Los Angeles | No | |
| Currently conducting research. | Mesinkovska, Natasha | Associate Professor | Nmesinko@uci.edu | Medicine | Dermatology | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Messaoudi Powers, Ilhem, PhD | Professor | imessaou@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Molecular Biology & Biochemistry | Epidemiology,Genomics,Host immune responses,Pathogenesis | surveillance, immunity, nonhuman primates, pathogenesis, genomics | 1. Surveillance amongst heath care providers (high risk) and UCI students (low risk) populations to measure prevalence of asymptomatic infection and immunological memory 2. Development of nonhuman primate model to understand mechanisms of age-related increased susceptibility 3. Establishment of biobank of COVID19 patient samples to study host immunity and biomarkers of disease outcomes | Yes | Sanghyuk Shin School of Nurising Miriam Bender- School of Nurising Tim Bruckner- School of Public Health Dominik Wardaz - School of Public Health Bernadette Boden-Albala - School of Public Health Valdimir Minin - Statistics Michael Buchmeier- Bio Sci Bert Semler - SOM (MMG) Alan Barbor - SOM (MMG) Dan Cooper- ICTS Megan Crumpler - OC public health agency Don Forthal - SOM |
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| Currently conducting research. | Metcalf, Stacy, M.A. | Graduate Student | metcalfs@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Psychological Science | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Naeim, Farzad | Adjunct Professor | fnaeim@uci.edu | Engineering | Civil & Environmental Engineering | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Nevarez Martinez, Deyanira, Ph.D. Candidate Urban Planning and Public Policy | Ph.D. Candidate | nevarezd@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Noymer, Andrew, PhD MSc | Associate Professor | noymer@uci.edu | Public Health | Population Health & Disease Prevention | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Public Health | demography, mortality, epidemiology, age, deaths | My work is principally on the public health response and understanding the mortality dynamics (at the population level). | Yes | Stephane Helleringer, JHU | |
| Currently conducting research. | Parker, Daniel, PhD | Assistant Professor | dparker1@uci.edu | Public Health | Population Health & Disease Prevention | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Public Health | spatial analysis, contact networks, time series analysis, travel patterns | Currently working on modeling and spatio-temporal analysis of case incidence and test positivity of COVID-19 in Orange County. This is in collaboration with other colleagues in Public Health and Math and with Orange County health officials. I'm also preparing a proposal (to be submitted for pilot funding from UCI and to NSF rapid funding scheme) on social contacts and daily travel patterns among the UCI community over time. This work will also include serological markers of SARS-CoV-2. This is a collaboration including partners in Nursing and Computer Science. | Yes | Dominik Wodarz Natalia Komarova Sanghyuk Shin Amir Rahmani Saahir Khan Nikil Dutt Ramesh Jain |
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| Currently conducting research. | Pedron, Shawn, MS Earth System Science | Ph.D. Candidate | spedron@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Earth System Science | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Penner, Reginald | Professor | rmpenner@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Diagnostics,Public Health | Biosensor, point-of-need, SARS-CoV-2, antibody, serological | With Greg Weiss, we are devoting a point-of-need test for rapid determination of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood. | Yes | Greg Weiss, UCI Chemistry | |
| Currently conducting research. | Piff, Paul, Ph.D. | Associate Professor | ppiff@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Psychological Science | Other | Interested in studying predictors of adherence (e.g., social distancing), factors that promote helping and other-regard, and health disparities in response to COVID | Social psychology, distancing, compassion, helping, inequality | No | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Qureshi, Farah, PhD Anthropology | Ph.D. Candidate | farahq@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Anthropology | Other | |||||
| Currently conducting research. | Rahmani, Amir, PhD | Assistant Professor | a.rahmani@uci.edu | Nursing | Nursing | Epidemiology,Public Health,Other | Mental health | Mental health, remote sensing, maternal care, social distance monitoring, lifelogging | * On the mental health of UCI undergraduate students anywhere in California (ongoing) * Maternal monitoring (mental and physiological health) using mobile app, smart ring, and smart bands in Finland (ongoing) * On monitoring social distancing (GPS) and vital signs (skin temperature, heart rate, respiration rate) using wearables on UCI students (planning) | Yes | Jessica Borelli, Social Ecology Ramesh Jain, ICS Nikil Dutt, ICS Sanghyuk Shin, Nursing Daniel Parker, Public Health Sahiir Khan, Medicine |
| Currently conducting research. | Realmuto, Jonathan, PhD | Postdoctoral Scholar | jrealmut@uci.edu | Engineering | Electrical Engineering & Computer Science | Public Health,Other | Crowdsourced personal protective equipment; Filtration material alternative | masks, filtration materials, | The global stockpile of personal protective equipment (PPE) is insufficient to meet the demands for the ongoing Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly for medical masks and respirators. Our focus is to mitigate the impact and control the spread of COVID-19 through (1) providing guidance to the public and health care workers on the effectiveness of different do-it-yourself (DIY) masks, including material type and mask design, and (2) developing a scalable crowdsourced fabrication process in order to rapidly meet health care demand for medical masks. | Yes | James Smith, Professor of Chemistry; Michael Kleinman, Professor of Environmental Toxicology; Terence Sanger, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
| Currently conducting research. | Rojek, Nathan, MD | Assistant Professor | nrojek@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Dermatology | Other | Piloting inpatient dermatology eConsults at UCIMC | teledermatology; telemedicine; telehealth; dermatology; consults | We will soon start offering inpatient dermatology eConsults at UCIMC, which will utilize store-and-forward teledermatology technology to provide an alternative to in-person consultations. This project will allow us to learn the percentage of overall inpatient dermatology consults at UCIMC that may be completed entirely via teledermatology, which in turn will quantify the amount of PPE saved, potential COVID transmission opportunities decreased, etc. | Yes | Dr. Alpesh Amin, Chair of Department of Medicine |
| Currently conducting research. | Ryan, Nessa PhD | Postdoctoral Scholar | ryanne@hs.uci.edu | Public Health | Program in Public Health | Epidemiology,Public Health | knowledge; attitudes; stigma; psychosocial consequences; social distancing | survey of student knowledge and attitudes regarding COVID-19; experiences of stigma; social distancing practices; psychosocial impacts of prolonged social distancing | Yes | Bernadette Boden-Albala; Dean of Program in Public Health; BBODENAL@hs.uci.edu Emily Drum; Research Manager; Program in Public Health; edrum@hs.uci.edu Miryha Gould Runnerstrom; Faculty; Program in Public Health; miryha@uci.edu |
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| Currently conducting research. | Said, Hamid PhD | Professor | hmsaid@uci.edu | Medicine | Medicine | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Sandri-Goldin, Rozanne, PhD | Chancellor's Professor | rmsandri@uci.edu | Medicine | Microbiology & Molecular Genetics | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Semler, Bert, PhD | Professor | blsemler@uci.edu | Medicine | Microbiology & Molecular Genetics | Molecular virology,Therapies | spike, glycoprotein, targets, DNA aptamers | In collaboration with Andrej Luptak and Michael Buchmeier, we are testing for anti-viral and diagnostic activity of DNA aptamers targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein. | Yes | Professor Andrej Luptak (Pharm Sci and MB&B Professor Michael Buchmeier (Medicine and MB&B) | |
| Currently conducting research. | Shea, Kenneth PhD | Professor | kjshea@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Therapies,Other | biospecific face masks, | synthetic antibodies, detection, PPE, sepsis, | We create synthetic antibodies, non-biological hydrogel polymers with antibody-like affinity for proteins and peptides. Current projects include a late stage sepsis intervention and integration of anti- SARS-CoV2 spike protein synthetic antibody into face masks to enhance the level of protection. | Yes | We have had a preliminary contact with a Chemistry colleague, Jim Smith, on the mask project. We hope to establish a working collaboration. |
| Currently conducting research. | Silver, Roxane Cohen, PhD | Professor | Rsilver@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Psychological Science | Epidemiology | Acute stress, risk perception, coping | Longitudinal study of nationally representative sample of U.S. residents (funded by NSF RAPID grant) | Yes | E. Alison Holman, Sue & Bill School of Nursing, aholman@uci.edu Dana Rose Garfin, Sue & Bill School of Nursing, dgarfin@uci.edu |
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| Currently conducting research. | Smith, Rachel, Bachelor of Science | Lab Manager/Research Coordinator (Staff) | rachelns@uci.edu | Education | Education | Clinical trial(s),Other | Behavioral Interventions | Memory, interventions, brain, behavioral, stimulation | Out research involves working memory interventions for both college students and older adults. Some of our research uses non-invasive brain stimulation, or tDCS, in the working memory intervention. | Yes | Susanne Jaeggi, PhD, Education, smjaeggi@uci.edu |
| Currently conducting research. | Solingen, Etel, Ph.D. | Thomas T. and Elizabeth C. Tierney Chair in Peace and Conflict Studies | etel.solingen@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Political Science | Other | The impact of Covid-19 on Global Value Chains (and International Relations more generally) | international interdependence; global economy; global health; supply chains; geopolitics | I have organized a collaborative UC project (funded by UCOP, with an emphasis on training GSRs and junior faculty)) on the role of GVCs in contemporary geopolitics and geoeconomics. Three reviewers from Cambridge University Press recommend publication of the edited collection I'm assembling, while encouraging that all chapters address the impact of Covid-19. I'm currently in the process of gathering as much relevant data as is possible to gather in real time (the true impact of Covid 19 on GVCs and the global political economy will not be known for some time, and I intend to integrate future data in subsequent publications related to this project). Separately, I'm interested in studying the overall failure of international political cooperation in addressing Covid-19, as opposed (perhaps) to a higher level of scientific cooperation; for that I'm hoping to learn more from colleagues in epidemiology and cognate disciplines. | Yes | Victor SHIH, School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California San Diego; Yuqing XING Professor of Economics and Director of Asian Economic Policy at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (Tokyo); Iain OSGOOD, Assistant Professor, Political Science, University of Michigan; Erin LOCKWOOD, Assistant Professor, Political Science UCI; Marissa BROOKES, Assistant Professor, Political Science UC Riverside; Gregory SHAFFER, Chancellor’s Professor, Law School, UCI; Momoko KAWAKAMI, Economics, Institute Development Economies, Tokyo; and the following Ph.D. students from UCI/Social Sciences: Uras DEMIR, Phoebe Woorim MOON, Prince Paa-Kwesi HETO; Shana Phillips; Kristen AANSTOOS. Additional UCI faculty and graduate students from Economics, the Merage School, and Transportation participated in activities sponsored by this project. |
| Currently conducting research. | Song, Xuxu, PhD Candidate | Teaching Assistant | xuxus@uci.edu | Humanities or Arts | German | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Sperling, George PhD | UCI Distinguished Prof | sperling@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Cognitive Sciences | Yes | Prof. Charles Chubb Prof. Charles E. Wright Research Associate Peng Sun |
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| Currently conducting research. | Strong, Brian BSN | Nurse Manager | bdstrong@hs.uci.edu | Nursing | Medical Surgical Telemetry, 3 Tower | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Taha, Haithem, PhD | Assistant Professor | hetaha@uci.edu | Engineering | Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering | Other | Bio engineering | Ventilators, 3D Printing, Fluid Mechanics | We are designing low-cost ventilators. | No | |
| Currently conducting research. | Tucker, Ionescu Andra, MS | Ph.D. Candidate | aionescu@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Neurobiology & Behavior | Diagnostics,Other | |||||
| Currently conducting research. | Uban, Kristina, PhD | Assistant Professor | kuban@uci.edu | Public Health | Public Health | Host immune responses,Public Health | |||||
| Currently conducting research. | Veria Khosrawipour | Research Fellow | vkhosraw@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Surgery | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Public Health,Other | we conduct a wide range of studies | analysing containment strategies, spread, risk evaluation, mortality rates, travel restrictions | We already published 3 manuscripts (original articles). One on containment, and two on spread pattern and risk evaluation on COVID-19. Furhtermore we have recently submitted two more manuscripts on questions regarding testing, and one on case development (projection) and quality of containment. | Yes | Hien Lau, Department of Surgery, UCI, Junior Specialist, LAB. Jacek Bania, Department of Hygiene, University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wroclaw Poland Tanja Khosrawipour, Department of Surgery, University of Düsseldorf, Germany. Piotr Kocbach, Department of Infectious Diseases, University or Warmia and Mazury, Poland Prof. Hirohito Ichii, Department of Surgery, UCI. |
| Currently conducting research. | Weiss, Gregory, PhD | Professor | gweiss@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Diagnostics,Host immune responses | diagnostics, serotyping, phage display, rapid testing, | Together with Reg Penner (UCI, Chemistry) and Phil Felgner (UCI, Physiology and Biophysics), we are developing a Virus BioResistor (VBR) for rapid (<60 s) detection of SARSCoV- 2 neutralizing antibodies, ideally from a finger prick blood sample. The Weiss and Penner labs have already demonstrated VBRs with the requisite sensitivity, speed of analysis, and ease of use. Here, we propose to adapt this technology from the discover of antibodies to the quantitation of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies. | Yes | Reg Penner, Professor, SOPS, Chemistry Phil Felgner, Professor in Residence, SOM Physiology & Biophysics |
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| Currently conducting research. | Weixi, Wang, Master student | Graduate Student | weixiw2@uci.edu | Engineering | Advanced Power & Energy Program | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Whiteson, Katrine PhD | Assistant Professor | katrine@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Molecular Biology & Biochemistry | Biostatistics,Genomics | genomics, transmission, wastewater surveillance, sequencing, detection | We are working toward tracking the virus causing COVID19 from sewage. Sequencing the wastewater viruses and comparing with the data on NextStrain would also allow us to get a population level glimpse of the diversity and spread of the virus. We are still early in developing methods and safe sample transport strategies, so I am not sure that it will work yet. There are many articles describing the idea, also here: https://medium.com/@biobotanalytics/testing-for-covid-19-beyond-the-clinic-using-wastewater-epidemiology-to-proactively-detect-ede0cbf81e49 Jen Martiny and Claudia Weihe are helping us with the protocol and reagents from their lab. Theresa Loveless from Chang Liu’s lab is working on establishing the PCR right now. A post-doc in my group Jason Rothman and a local phage expert Mike Koeris of SampleSix has been helping too. Zymo is sharing reagents. While our initial plans are focussed on monitoring wastewater, the methods may also work for clinical samples, and that is why I would like to leave the door open on the IRB for working with clinical samples. There is a real need for methods with orthogonal reagents, so maybe this will be helpful at some point. Furthermore, sequencing the viral RNA may be beyond the usual detection methods described in the IRB and would add real value to discovery and public health efforts. I have also been in touch with Prof. Ed Monuki and we created a researcher volunteer list together with Dr. Theresa Loveless in the spirit of what they have done at the University of Washington; we emailed the screening questions around last week and we have >220 responses; now we have an active slack group that is taking on tasks such as summarizing literature to address questions from Prof. Ed Monuki and others in the med school. I also feel strongly that viral genomics from clinical samples at UCIMC is important, and I am working on how to help make that happen. | Yes | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Wu, Jenny, Ph.D. | Project Scientist | jiew5@uci.edu | Medicine | Biological Chemistry | ||||||
| Currently conducting research. | Wu, Jun, PhD | Associate Professor | junwu@uci.edu | Public Health | Public Health | Epidemiology,Public Health | air quality, natural experiment, environmental health, traffic emission, | I'd like to understand 1) how the reduction of traffic and other source emissions by staying at home improves air quality; and 2) how the improved air quality affect various health outcomes under the condition of high stress, mostly staying indoors, and lack of physical activities. | No | ||
| Currently conducting research. | Young, Sean, PhD | Associate Professor | syoung5@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Emergency Medicine | Biostatistics, Clinical Trial(s), Public Health | interventions; social media; online; artificial intelligence; psychology | 1. Social media data/AI modeling to predict case transmission in China (completed in January) 2. Harnessing Online Peer Education (HOPE) online intervention to decrease COVID-related anxiety (in week 5 of 6) 3. Social media data to monitor COVID-related attitudes and behaviors (analysis completed, submitting results) 4. Mobile phone data to predict/monitor COVID outcomes in Los Angeles; including a contact tracing app 5. Online advertisements as COVID intervention (intervention ending this week) 6. COVID anxiety and cannabis 7. COVID and misinformation online (with Sameer Singh) 8. Adapting the HOPE digital intervention for African American and Latino MSM (funded by UCOP pilot project) 9. Submitted viewpoints on COVID, behaviors, and technologies (1st one accepted for publication; second under review) | Yes | UCLA; USC; Stanford; City University of Hong Kong; NYU; Yale | |
| Currently conducting research. | Zhang, Li, PhD | Visiting Assistant Professor | li.zhang@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Global & International Studies | Epidemiology,Natural History,Pathogenesis,Public Health,Therapies,Other | Culture, politics, and environment | China, epidemiology, history, governance, political economy | I am currently writing a monograph tentatively titled “Pandemics in China: Culture, Power, and Consumerism.” It is an environmental history of pandemics across China, starting from the plague pandemic of the mid-19th century that originated in southern China, through the influenza pandemic of 1918–19 and various epidemics and mobilization against them during the Maoist era, to the emergence of SARS in 2002, and ultimately the current emergence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-2019. The framework of the analysis is comparative, across history, across regions within China, and across China and other countries. I draw upon relevant data that I already acquired during my doctoral research, and secondary materials and other texts that I am able to obtain now in remote research online. The themes examined include: the origins of such diseases, pathogenesis; especially the relationship of emergent infectious diseases with wild animals, livestock, and environmental degradation; food safety regulations, and the commodification, industrialization, and globalization of food and health practices; consumerism and authoritarianism; modern medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and folk religions; testing and tracing, social distancing and quarantine; the development, management, and operation of hospitals, the debates and the political economy of mask use; ideology and discourse; and the cultural, political, and economic factors required for a proper epidemiology of pandemics in China during in recent history and now at present. | No | |
| Other | Farkas, George, Ph.D. Sociology | Distinguished Professor | gfarkas@uci.edu | Education | Education | ||||||
| Other | Geoffrey Abbott, PhD | Professor | abbottg@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Physiology & Biophysics | ||||||
| Other | Habowski, Amber | Ph.D. Candidate | habowski@uci.edu | Medicine | Microbiology & Molecular Genetics | ||||||
| Other | Hochbaum, Allon, PhD | Associate Professor | hochbaum@uci.edu | Engineering | Materials Science & Engineering | Other | Rapid diagnostics for antibiotic resistance of secondary infections | Secondary infection, bacteria, diagnostic, antibiotic susceptibility, antibiotic resistance | Many COVID-19 cases develop secondary bacterial infections, and of the COVID-19 related deaths, the vast majority have secondary infections. For these cases it is critical to rapidly identify effective antibiotic therapies to improve patient outcomes AND to prevent the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria in general and among the vulnerable population of hospitalized patients. We can rapidly screen antibiotic resistance or susceptibility using a 96 or 384 well plate assay of different bacterial samples, potentially within 30-60 min, as opposed to 12-72 h for conventional testing. We need to validate this method on clinical samples and different sample types (e.g. sputum), as well as with panels of antibiotics available in specific clinical settings. | Yes | Katrine Whiteson, Assistant Professor, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, UCI, katrine@uci.edu |
| Other | Kaiser, Peter, PhD | Professor | pkaiser@uci.edu | Medicine | Biological Chemistry | Genomics,Molecular virology,Therapies | ubiquitin, autophagy | testing inhibitors in the ubiquitin pathway | No | ||
| Other | Naugle, Lisa, Ph.D. | Professor | lnaugle@uci.edu | Humanities or Arts | Dance | ||||||
| Other | Nelson, Edward | Professor | enelson@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Medicine | Other | None | No | |||
| Other | Nelson, Nellie, BS | Graduate Student | nenelson@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering | ||||||
| Other | Pearce, Jone, PhD | Distinguished Professor Emerita | jlpearce@uci.edu | Law or Business | Business | Yes | Esther Bailey, PhD, Rice University Ephrat Livne, PhD, New York University |
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| Other | Rahimi, Maryam, MD | Professor | Mrahimi1@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Internal medicine | ||||||
| Other | Rosso, Diego, PhD | Professor | bidui@uci.edu | Engineering | Civil & Environmental Engineering | No | |||||
| Other | Tate, Tamara PhD | Project Scientist | tatet@uci.edu | Education | Education | ||||||
| Other | Thompson Simonowitz, Georgana | UCPath Project Director | georgant@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Division of Finance/Administration | UCPath, accounts payable, HR, EEC, Fema reimbursement | |||||
| Other | Waterman, Marian, PhD | Professor | marian.waterman@uci.edu | Medicine | Microbiology & Molecular Genetics | Other | I plan to look for ways for the CRI and the cancer center to partner with, and/or facilitate the COVD-19 research conducted by cancer center and/or CRI members | n.a. | As stated above - there won't be COVID-19 research carried out in my laboratory. Instead, I will look for ways in which I can facilitate, enable, accelerate the research of the cancer community. | ||
| Planning to conduct research | Anderson, Aileen Ph.D. | Professor | aja@uci.edu | Medicine | Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation | Host immune response, Pathogenesis | Investigation of the effect of SARS-CoV2 infection on ACE2 activity. We hypothesize that this will drive an imbalance between the ACE/AngII/AT1R and the ACE2/Ang(1-7)/Mas1 mediated signaling and consequently the perturbed dynamic molecular machinery of NSCs and progenitors alters stem self-renewal, migration and cell fate - particularly oligogenesis - in the fetal brain causing developmental deficits | Yes | Anita Lakatos | ||
| Planning to conduct research | Chang, Peter, MD | Assistant Professor-in-Residence | changp6@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Radiological Sciences | artificial intelligence, deep learning, machine learning, detection | The following is a brief summary of the planned COVID-19 projects at UC Irvine utilizing some form of machine learning analysis. Of note, the projects listed include only those that I (Peter Chang) am personally developing; there are likely other parallel endeavors on campus that I am not aware of. Many individuals continue to contribute significantly to these various projects. An incomplete list of key leadership support includes: Vahid Yaghmai; Tom Andriola; Daniela Bota; Suzanne Sandmeyer; Leslie Thompson; Alpesh Amin; Bernadette Boden-Albala; Ed Monuki; Kai Zheng. Key administrative support has been provided by Daniel Chow and the CAIDM staff. Finally Daniel alongside Jennifer Soun continue to lead a team of students to manually compile EMR data from every COVID-19 patient at UCI, data without which many of the following projects would not be possible. As expected, these projects are in early data aggregation phases. It is difficult to project the ultimate impact and effect that these projects may have on clinical care at UCI. As more patients become available in the system and projects evolve, I will continuously update this document with new developments. 1. Machine Learning Predictive Analytics in COVID-19 Patients 2. Deep Learning Chest CT Analysis in COVID-19 Patients 3. Deep Learning for Detection of Pneumonia on Chest Radiograph 4. Deep Learning for Differentiation of Viral and Bacterial Pneumonia in Pediatric Chest Radiographs 5. Nvidia Sponsored Artificial Intelligence Research | Yes | Daniel Chow; Assistant Professor-In-Residence/Department of Radiological Sciences Vahid Yaghmai; Professor and Chair/Department of Radiological Sciences Tom Andriola; Vice Chancellor/Department of Information Technology and Data Daniela Bota; Chief Scientific Officer/UCI Center for Clinical Research Suzanne Sandmeyer; Vice Dean for Research/School of Medicine Leslie Thompson; Donald Bren Professor/Departments of Psychiatry & Human Behavior and Neurobiology & Behavior Alpesh Amin; Chair and Professor, Department of Medicine/Executive Director of the Hospitalist Program Bernadette Boden-Albala; Professor of Population Health and Disease Prevention and Epidemiology/Director and Founding Dean, Program in Public Health, College of Health Sciences Ed Monuki; Chair and Professor/Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Kai Zheng; Associate Professor/Department of Informatics Xiaohui Xie; Professor/Department of Computer Science, Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences Jennifer E. Soun; Assistant Professor-in-Residence/Department of Radiological Sciences Jung Park; Assistant Professor/Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing Albert Hsiao; UCSD; a3hsiao@ucsd.edu Terence Sanger, Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, CHOC | ||
| Planning to conduct research | Jafari, Mahtab Pharm.D. | Professor | mjafari@uci.edu | PharmSci. | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Other | My project is a survey study titled:College Students' Attitude, Needs and Stress Levels During COVID-19 Pandemic | The COVID-19 pandemic could be an unprecedented cause of stress among already stressed out college students. It appears that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted our students' personal and academic lives, as well as their mental and physical health. Understandably, the majority of current efforts by academic institutions and governments have been directed at protecting students against infection and providing medical care for those who have been infected by COVID-19. Other dimensions to the pandemic are the mental health of college students who are living through this pandemic and their coping modalities, which could be useful or harmful. Our main objectives for this study are to learn about the status of our students in regards to: 1) Their mental health and overall well-being during this pandemic 2) The tools that they are currently using to cope with their stress 3) Their attitude and perceptions towards the assistance that they currently receive from their college/university Our main hypothesis is that COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the mental health and overall well-being of our students. The knowledge gained by this survey project will assist us in developing programs to help our students improve their coping mechanisms during current pandemic, and to provide a framework for addressing similar situations more effectively and efficiently in the future. | Yes | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Acharya, Munjal, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor | macharya@uci.edu | Medicine | Radiation Oncology | ||||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Alachkar, Amal | Associate Professor of teaching | aalachka@uci.edu | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Diagnostics,Pathogenesis,Other | Other symptoms of the infection including the neural effects and the loss of smell and taste | loss. smell, taste, early, detection, diagnosis | Loss of smell and taste as early signs of the COVID-19 infection Medical reports from several countries provide evidence for the sudden and/or early loss of smell and taste is an early indication of the novel coronavirus infection. I plan to study the effect of COVID-19 on the olfactory (smell) and taste functions, and whether the changes in these two senses can be used as early signs to detect the infection. Indeed officials in the British National Health Service (NHS) in the UK are urging people who start to lose smell to have self-isolation. I am planning to use K18-hACE2 trangenic mice which express the human Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (ACE2), the receptor used by SARS-CoV to gain entry to cells. I am testing the hypothesis that through ACE2, COVID-19 can infect neuronal cells starting with the olfactory bulb, and thus induces neurological symptoms. There are speculations that the high mortality might be linked to the COVID-19-induced brain swelling, which might lead to compressing the brain stem and affecting respiration. My plan is to test these animals in behavioral assays including Buried Food Test, and olfactory habituation/cross-habituation test, and sucrose preference test. I will dissect the neurochemical mechanisms by conducting immunohistochemistry and other assays on the brain after finishing the behavioral studies. Expectations: If I could prove that these transgenic mice develop loss of olfactory and taste functions, in early stage of infection, that might help in the early diagnosis of the infection when other symptoms are still absent. The research will also provide insights into the neuronal mechanisms involved in COVID-19 high mortality. | Yes | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Baldi, Pierre PhD | Professor | pfbaldi@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Computer Science | Genomics,Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Baram Tallie Z. MD, PhD | Professor | tallie@uci.edu | Medicine | Pediatrics, Anatomy & Neurobiology | Host immune responses,Natural History,Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Barbour, Alan, MD | Professor | abarbour@uci.edu | Medicine | Microbiology & Molecular Genetics | Host immune responses,Pathogenesis | Animal model | Develop small animal model in the white-footed deermouse which has an ACE2 protein that is recognized by SARS-CoV-2 virus. Laboratory mice and rats do not. | Yes | Donald Forthal Anthony Long Ilhem Messaoudi Michael Buchmeier |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Bartell, Scott, PhD | Professor | sbartell@uci.edu | Public Health | Population Health & Disease Prevention | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Public Health | spatiotemporal, epidemic modeling | Considering potential projects involving mathematical modeling and/or statistical analysis of intervention effectiveness on COVID-19 epidemic curves | Yes | Various researchers in the Program in Public Health | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Borghouts, Judith, PhD | Postdoctoral Scholar | jborghou@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Informatics | ||||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Borovik, Andrew, Ph.D. | Distinguished Professor | aborovik@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Therapies | synthesis, inhibitors, chemistry | Work with a team of chemists and chemical biologists to develop new inhibitors. | Yes | Rachel Martin, Full Professor, Chemistry, rachel.martin@uci.edu James Nowich, Full Professor, Chemistry, jsnowick@uci.edu Jennifer Prescher, Full Professor, Chemistry, jpresche@uci.edu Elizabeth Jarvo, Full Professor, Chemistry, erjarvo@uci.edu Yy Dong, Full Professor, Chemistry, dongv@uci.edu Doug Tobias, Full Professor, Chemistry, dtobias@uci.edu Carter Butts, Full Professor, Psychology, carter.butts@gmail.com |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Branham, Stacy, Informatics (Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction) | Assistant Professor | sbranham@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Informatics | Other | social behavior | human-computer interaction, social distancing, online communities, co-reading, online fieldwork | investigation of altered human technology use patterns in the era of social/physical distancing; specifically, how do communities share reading activities online (e.g., reading a children's book on Zoom for strangers' children) and how researchers conduct online human subjects research (e.g., how human-computer interaction researchers conduct remote workshops without excluding participants with physical disabilities) | No | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Bunney, Blynn Ph.D. | Specialist | bgbunney@uci.edu | Medicine | Psychiatry | ||||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Chen, Dongbao, PhD | Professor | Dongbaoc@uci.edu | Medicine | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Chen, Phang-Lang | Associate Professor | plchen@uci.edu | Medicine | Biological Chemistry | ||||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Chernyak, Nadia, PhD | Assistant Professor | nadia.chernyak@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Cognitive Sciences | Other | pre- and post-studies of people's reasoning about fairness and inequality | I don't have an answer to this yet because these are just planned studies | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Civelli, Olivier, PhD | Professor | ocivelli@uci.edu | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Pharmaceutical Sciences | ||||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Clark, Hirosh | MFA | clarkhr@uci.edu | Humanities or Arts | Studio Art | Other | I would like to make photographs about the research being conducted at UCI. | Photographic, Documentary, Series, | I am hoping to take some documentary photographs of the research being done at UCI. I am a current MFA student in the Studio Art program and Photography is my main medium. | No | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Copp, Stacy, PhD | Assistant Professor | stacy.copp@uci.edu | Engineering | Materials Science & Engineering | Therapies | SARS-CoV-2, inhibitor, protease, Mpro | We are potentially helping with the effort spearheaded by Professor Rachel Martin to develop treatments for COVID-19 based on the SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor | Yes | Rachel Martin, rachel.martin@uci.edu | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Downing, Timothy, PhD | Assistant Professor | tim.downing@uci.edu | Engineering | Biomedical Engineering | Diagnostics,Epidemiology | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Earthman, James, PhD | Professor | earthman@uci.edu | Engineering | Materials Science & Engineering | Molecular virology,Public Health,Therapies | Nanobubble treatments that control COVID-19 | Nanobubbles containing a range of various gasses will be tested for efficacy in controlling COVID-19 | Yes | Zhongping Chen, Professor, Biomedical Engineering | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Edinger, Aimee VMD/PhD | Professor | aedinger@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Developmental & Cell Biology | Therapies,Other | viral cell biology: intracellular trafficking important for infection, viral production, and pathogenicity (syncytium formation) | endocytosis, lysosomal acidification, TMPRSS2, ACE-2, S protein | We study endolysosomal trafficking. We will use therapeutically viable small molecules (and some tool compounds) to identify liabilities in the CoV life cycle relevant to intracellular trafficking. | Yes | Mike Buchmeier has offered reagents. |
| Planning to conduct research. | Edwards, Karen, PhD | Professor | Kedward1@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Epidemiology | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Genomics,Natural History,Public Health | Epidemiologic research | ||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Elmalaki, Salma, PhD | Assistant Professor of Teaching | salma.elmalaki@uci.edu | Engineering | Electrical Engineering & Computer Science | Other | Pervasive and Human-in-the-Loop Computing | machine learning, social interaction, adaptability, sensing, availability | The planned research has three folds, the first fold is to be able to model the social interaction of humans and the ability to trace back if a positive case is detected. The second fold is to understand the human reaction to the regulations and the shelter-in-place orders to be able to give different directed recommendations to different groups of people. The third fold is to be able to direct a possible positive case to the right place at the right time by understanding the availability of resources (doctors, ICU beds, ventilators, ... etc) and the increased number of demands. With the small number of available tests and ventilators, the need to be able to accurately detect and direct the cases with high probability of infection to the hospitals at the right time is inevitable to avoid the spread of the disease. This will be the main focus of the first fold of this research. We need a way to be able to monitor and detect if any human was in contact with a positive case of COVID-19. This requires monitoring the human activity and tracing back any social activities; especially after the diagnosis. This is important to be modeled as soon as possible using pervasive sensors (in smart phones and smart watches) and context-aware computing (such as, localization and encounters) to be able to stop the spread of the current pandemic or any future ones. However, this is a very challenging task given the vast area of spread of the disease. Hence, this interaction and the tracing data of information should not be centralized but rather propagated from one human to another based on their interaction. The trace can be calculated by sending a broadcast message whenever people become in close proximity. Every human will have this trace saved locally of all the broadcasted messages from the people whom they were in close proximity to. This trace will be updated and kept for as long as the infection period. If a human is tested positive, from this human local trace, an alert message can be sent to all the people whom he/she came in close proximity to. This message can be a procedure of self-checking of the symptoms and monitoring the human temperature and body movement using pervasive sensors to validate the symptoms. The second fold of this research is targeting how to be able to give a directed recommendation or feedback to the people. This requires understanding the human reaction and behavior under these circumstances to be able to give positive and negative rewards based on how the human follows the recommended actions. One way to model this action reward system is using machine learning models that can infer and predict the human preferences and reactions. One approach is to use Reinforcement Learning to predict the right recommended action for each human. Reinforcement learning has proven to be able to converge to the best action based on the human preference and behavior. The third fold will focus on the question of availability of resources and the distribution of demand. Based on the human data from the trace and from the symptoms monitoring (first fold) and the human response to recommendation (second fold), an AI agent will determine how to direct this human either to self-quarantine or to go to a hospital. If the AI agent chooses the hospital option, a best route and the best time should be provided to the patient based on the availability of resources in the targeted hospital. | Yes | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Enriquez, Laura, PhD | Assistant Professor | laura.enriquez@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Chicano/Latino Studies | Other | survey of perceived impacts of COVID-19 on self and family among immigrant-origin UC and CSU undergraduate students | perceived impact, education performance, wellbeing, immigrant-origin, college students, | My research team has added 2 survey questions regarding perceived impacts of COVID-19 to a survey we are currently fielding on the educational performance and wellbeing on immigrant-origin college students. | Yes | 14 UC and CSU co-investigators |
| Planning to conduct research. | Feldman, David, PhD political science | Professor | feldmand@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Urban & Environmental Policy & Planning | Other | policy and societal implications of COVID-9 hygiene-related issues | hygiene, environmental justice, potability, policy, law | Today, with coronavirus present on every continent except Antarctica, washing hands is a difficult challenge in many developing countries. Clean water and soap are often in short supply, and many slum dwellers live in homes without running water. Rising demand for water in the industrial, domestic and agricultural sectors signals that people are starting to live better, thanks to progress in harnessing fresh water for growing food and fiber and for public consumption. However, experts note that progress is lagging relevant to COVID-19 due to high water stress, and severe water scarcity attributable to rising water demands and the intensifying effects of climate change. They also worsen mistreatment of women, who bear much of the burden of providing scarce water to families. The focus of out research is how to dress these problems through water policy reform. | Yes | Dr. Shannon Roback, Environmental and Health Science, CSU-Dominguez Hills |
| Planning to conduct research. | Fowler, Christie, PhD | Associate Professor | cdfowler@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Neurobiology & Behavior | Host immune responses,Other | Susceptibility and mechanisms underlying ACE2 receptor expression | Lung, e-cigarettes, ACE2, EVALI, vapor | To examine the effects of nicotine and THC e-cigarette vapor exposure on the expression of proteins involved in COVID-19 infection and subsequent viral response in lung tissue. | Yes | Not currently collaborating. Potential future collaboration with Dr. Thomas Lane, Professor, NBB |
| Planning to conduct research. | Gibbs, Lisa MD | Professor | lgibbs@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Family Medicine | Public Health | older adults, isolation, telehealth, students | Reaching isolated seniors via telephone communication by medical and nursing students | Yes | Jung-Ha Lee, Julie Rousseau, SON | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Goldstein, Ruth, PhD | Assistant Professor | ruth.goldstein@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Global & International Studies | Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Goodman, Deborah MD, PhD | Associate professor | Goodmand@uci.edu | Medicine | Epidemiology | Public Health | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Gorodetsky, Alon | Associate Professor | alon.gorodetsky@uci.edu | Engineering | Chemical & Bimolecular Engineering | Therapies,Vaccine development | drug, vaccine, bioelectronics | We would like to develop 1) a chloroquine-like drug with improved efficacy and 2) a vaccine that would elicit a stronger immune response upon viral infection. | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Gratton, Enrico Phd | Professor | egratton@uci.edu | Engineering | Biomedical Engineering | Diagnostics | Fast PCR in droplets | Detect viruses by its RNA , rather than using antibodies | Yes | Weian Zhao, Pharmaceutical Sciences | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Grun, Felix, PhD | Director, Mass Spectrometry Facility | fgrun@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Diagnostics | biomarker, diagnostic test, breath test, mass spectrometry, point-of-care | We plan to develop a rapid point-of-care diagnostic method for COVID-19 infections using breath samples. Breath air samples contain a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that reflect metabolic activity and changes induced by disease associated processes, e.g. microbiome and immune responses. Several studies have applied this technique for (early) diagnostic detection of various disease states including cancers (breast/lung), bacterial infections (tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis) and viral respiratory diseases (influenza, RSV etc.) Patient breath samples will be collected into gas collection bags and/or transferred onto thermal desorption (TD) traps. Samples will be analyzed by TD gas chromatography mass spectrometry (TD GC-MS) to identify small molecule volatile biomarkers specific for COVID-19 infection. Based on these biomarker profiles, a multivariate predictive algorithm will be generated for effective diagnosis of COVID-19 patients (>80% accuracy). The method will be transferred and validated on a second type of instrument (GC-SAW) more suitable for high throughput point-of-care applications. Both instruments were recently installed in the Mass Spectrometry Facility and are available for immediate use. | Yes | Katrine Whiteson, Assistant Professor, MB&B (katrine@uci.edu) Michael Phillips, Clin Prof of Med, New York Med College & Menssana Research Inc (mphillips@menssanaresearch.com) |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Haq, Cynthia | Professor, ClinX | chaq@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Family Medicine | Public Health,Other | Community outreach, education, prevention; health equity for disadvantaged populations | family medicine, public health, community health, health equity, | Yes | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Harding, Matthew, PhD | Professor | harding1@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Economics | Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Hughes, Christopher C. W., Ph.D. | Professor | cchughes@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Molecular Biology & Biochemistry | Pathogenesis,Therapies,Other | Develop a human lung microphysiological system platform for basic research on viral-host interactions | MPS, 3D in vitro lung model, vascular, viral-host interaction, drug development platform | We plan to use our already-developed vascularized micro-organ platform as a base to develop a lung model. This will allow infection of type II pneumocytes in a physiological 3D microenvironment. As the tissue is also vascularized we can deliver drugs to the cells also in a physiological manner. The goal will be to use this platform to better understand the basic biology of the SARS-CoV-2 host interaction, while also providing a novel and physiological platform for testing novel therapies. | Yes | Planned - Bert Semler, Virologist. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics |
| Planning to conduct research. | Jang, Cholsoon, PhD | Assistant Professor | choljang@uci.edu | Medicine | Biological Chemistry | Host immune responses | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Jarvo, Elizabeth R, PhD | Professor | erjarvo@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Therapies | synthesis, medicinal chemistry | synthesis, medicinal chemistry | Yes | Rachel Martin, Professor, Chemistry Department James Nowick, Professor, Chemistry Department Jennifer Prescher, Professor, Chemistry Department |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Kelly, Kristin, MD | Professor | kmkelly@uci.edu | Medicine | Dermatology | Diagnostics | Covid toes; non-invasive imaging; laser speckle | In conjunction with Bernard Choi we will be imaging patients with "Covid toes" with non-invasive Laser Speckle Imaging. Patients will be screened and tested by PCR and then antibody testing. | Yes | Bernard Choi | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Kenney, M. Cristina, MD, PhD | Professor | mkenney@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Ophthalmology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute | Epidemiology,Genomics,Pathogenesis,Therapies | Azithromycin, Hydroxycholoquine, Mitochondria, Ethnic/racial populations, Age groups | Mitochondrial dynamics impact cellular homeostasis, metabolism, and innate-immune signaling, and thus are major determinants of the outcome of viral infections. A protein encoded by SARS-CoV (ORF-9b) localizes to the mitochondria, modulates its function, which ultimately helps evasion of the host innate immunity. Mitochondria (mt) play a vital role in viral infections and may explain severity of disease and response to treatment in different ethnic/racial populations and age groups. We will focus on two crucial studies using our unique laboratory systems, transmitochondrial cybrid cells and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of mtDNA: 1) Determine the role of mitochondria and mtDNA in susceptibility to severe COVID-19 disease and death in different ethnic/racial populations and age groups. 2) Determine which promising experimental treatments proposed for COVID-19 patients are most likely to benefit which ethnic/racial population and which age group. Vital laboratory studies such as these, prior to clinical trials, may save time, money and lives. | Yes | Nitin Udar, PhD, Genomeadvisors, Inc, - Greatbioinformatics@yahoo.com IRB collaboration with Daniela Bota, MD. PhD, Dept Neurology - dbota@hs.uci.edu IRB collaboration with Dan Cooper, MD - ICTS, dcooper@hs.uci.edu |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Kim, Jai, PhD | Specialist | jaihyunk@uci.edu | Medicine | Medicine Oncology | Diagnostics | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Kong, Mei Ph.D | Associate Professor | meik1@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Molecular Biology & Biochemistry | Molecular virology,Therapies | glutamine Ace2 | ||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Kreutzer, Adam, PhD | Assistant Project Scientist | akreutze@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Therapies | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Kulinsky, Lawrence, PhD | Project Scientist V | lkulinsk@uci.edu | Engineering | Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering | Diagnostics | microfluidics, molecular diagnostics, 3D printing | My research involves creating in-vitro microfluidic diagnostic platform. I am planning to collaborate with colleagues to create a diagnostic platform that uses Arduino and inexpensive servo-motors and other components for performing COVID-19 test. I am planning to modify the platforms I have developed for malaria testing: >M. Bauer and L. Kulinsky, “Fabrication of a Lab-on-Chip Device Using Material Extrusion (3D Printing) and Demonstration via Malaria-Ab ELISA”, Micromachines, 9 [1], 27 (2018) >C. Lim, Y. Lee, and L. Kulinsky, "Fabrication of a Malaria-Ab ELISA Bioassay Platform with Utilization of Syringe-Based and 3D Printed Assay Automation", Micromachines, 9 [10], 502 (2018) | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Kwon, Young Jik | Professor | kwonyj@uci.edu | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Therapies,Vaccine development | COVID-19 vaccine, Nanonatibiotics, Multi-modal vaccine carriers, Overcome drug-resistance, Facile and scalable production | 1. COVID-19 vaccine: We develop a novel vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 virus via activating both cellular and humoral immunity. The vaccine is based on a UCI-owned novel platform to stimulate T cells and simultaneously utilize antigen presenting cells in situ. The preliminary studies have demonstrated very efficient T cell activation and protection of vaccinated animals from a non-infectious disease. The platform is easily adapted to COVID-19 vaccine development and offers highly scalable and rapid production. 2. Nanoantibiotics: We have developed a novel polymeric material that has a superior antimicrobial activity. It was designed to easily administered to patients' body in an inactive form, detect infections, and rapidly transform into an active form. This nanoantibiotics is particularly promising for treating intracellular pathogenic microbes. Using Salmonella model, we have demonstrated that it killed the intracellular pathogens very well, while leaving infected cells intact. We also found out that it interferes a broad range of proteins that are need for intracellular pathogens need for proliferation. We believe that this novel material is particularly promising for pneumonia therapy. | Yes | Don Forthal, Professor and Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Lari Wenzel, PhD | Professor | lwenzel@uci.edu | Medicine | Medicine | Clinical trial(s),Public Health,Other | I direct a Biobehavioral Shared Resource. In this capacity, we provide expertise on patient-reported outcomes (PROs) (e.g., symptom evaluation, health-related quality of life), we also advise on clinical trial design which includes PROs, and we develop trials to potentially assess the relationship between behavior, emotion and health outcomes. | I would envision contributing to a study which seeks to evaluate, for example, a) adequacy of health messaging among health care workers and the general public, to determine if their knowledge, perceptions or skills are positively or negatively influenced by the health messaging; b) participant-reported (e.g., health care workers, general public) stressors which influence health-related outcomes specific to COVID-19. If an RFA were available specific to population health questions, I would also be prepared to lead and/or collaborate, as indicated. | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Lbachir, BenMohamed MD | Professor | Lbenmoha@uci.edu | Medicine | Ophthalmology | Host immune responses,Molecular virology,Pathogenesis,Vaccine development | vaccine, immunotherapy, human, B cells, T cells | Development of a Genome-Wide Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine: Professor of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Dr. Lbachir BenMohamed has submitted a grant proposal to develop a safe and efficient Pan-Coronavirus Vaccine. The vaccine would ideally stop and reduce present SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmissions as well as reduce the severity of COVID-19 disease. In addition, this "preemptive" pan-Coronavirus vaccine is designed to stop or modify any upcoming future Coronavirus outbreaks that may be caused by yet another spillover of the bat SARS-like Coronaviruses (SL-CoVs) into humans. | Yes | Dr. Nesburn, Dr.Buchmeier, Dr.McLaren | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Levorato, Marco, Ph.D. | Associate Professor | levorato@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Computer Science | Analysis of data from wearable devices for the early detection of Covid19 hotspots. | Machine learning, Wearable sensors, Hotspots detection, Biosignal processing | The Scripps Research Translational Institute (one of the strongest research) recently released an app in collaboration with Fitbit, and now Walmart and Fitbit. The app receives data from wearable devices (e.g., Fitbit smartwatches) daily. The core idea is to use some biosignal markers (e.g., resting heart rate) to detect COVID19 hotspots. Scripps already has 10000 subscriptions, and with the help from Walmart and CVS they plan to go up to millions. They have some preliminary results on the detection of flu diffusion, and asked my group to partner up to analyze the data given our experience with IoT and wearables. We plan to submit an NSF RAPID, and working out the details of the collaboration and data sharing, and well as of the signal processing. | Yes | Giorgio Quer, Director, Artificial Intelligence, Scripps Research Translational Institute, gquer@scripps.edu | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Lu, Yunxia, PhD | Associate professor | Yunxia.lu@uci.edu | Public Health | Population health & disease prevention | Epidemiology,Public Health | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | McClelland, Michael, PhD | Professor | mmcclell@uci.edu | Medicine | Microbiology & Molecular Genetics | Vaccine development | Probiotic bacteria, oral vaccine, Escherichia coli | Present large peptides of spike proteins or other surface/antigenic proteins on a probiotic E. coli strain to attempt to illicit a protective response to the virus. Bacteria codon optimized, which also avoids false positive detection of viral RNA. | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | McKeown, Daniel, PhD Student | Graduate Student | danielmckeownphysics1@gmail.com | Physical Sciences | Physics & Astronomy | Other | I haven't spoken to anyone about working on a research project, however I would be interested in helping to conduct research if we could find a good project. I have a strong background in data analysis and computer science which I use for my Astrophysics Research. | Modeling, Data Analysis, Statistics, Physics, Biophysics. | I don't have any planned research but I am interested in a project and willing to help if possible. | No | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Mehtah, Rita | HS Clinical Professor | rsmehta@uci.edu | Medicine | Hematology/Oncology | Therapies | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Mjolsness, Eric, PhD | Professor | emj@uci.edu | Information and Computer Sciences | Computer Science | Molecular virology,Therapies | We are developing machine learning (ML) methods for model reduction of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, using novel graph convolutional neural networks (https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.05842, submitted to a conference and extended for a journal, + unpublished atomistic sims). Such model reduction could be very useful for larger-scale MD simulations regarding the molecular interaction of the virus with host or therapeutic molecules. However, we lack the expertise to frame the computationally expensive MD problems to which our substantial speedups could apply, and we need help finding this expertise. | No | |||
| Planning to conduct research. | Muyshondt, Yuna, MPH | Project Manager | chuny@uci.edu | Medicine | Stem Cell Research Center | Other | genomics, | No | |||
| Planning to conduct research. | Neighbors, Teresa EdD | Lecturer | teresa.neighbors@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Social Science | ||||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Nguyen, Tan MD | Associate Professor | tanqn@uci.edu | Medicine | Family Medicine | Other | Physician response and psychosocial aspect of the pandemic | PPE, resiliency, front line workers, burn out, deployment | surveying physicians on their response to the pandemic | No | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Nowick, James, Ph.D. | Professor | jsnowick@uci.3eu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Therapies | protease, peptide, protein, inhibitor, drug | I am part of a collaboration to develop drugs to treat COVID-19. One focus of the work is developing inhibitors of the main protease enzyme, Mpro. | Yes | Rachel Martin, Department of Chemistry Doug Tobias, Department of Chemistry Jennifer Prescher, Department of Chemistry Vy Dong, Department of Chemistry Andy Borovik, Department of Chemistry |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Nyamathi, Adey, PhD, MSN | Professor and Dean | anyamath@hs.uci.edu | Nursing | Nursing | Clinical trial(s),Epidemiology,Natural History,Public Health | Still under planning but could possibly attach to a newly funded HCV grant focused on education and treatment completion. | Yes | School of Nursing, UCI and School of Medicine and Nursing, UCLA. Happy to include other UCI investigators | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Oakes, Melanie, PhD | Project Scientist | mloakes@uci.edu | Medicine | Biological Chemistry | Genomics | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Panicker, Mitradas, PhD | Associate Adjunct Professor | mmpanick@uci.edu | Medicine | Physiology & Biophysics | Diagnostics,Therapies | Not Applicable | High throughout assays for detection and screening drugs. | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Parang, Keykavous | Professor | parang@chapman.edu | Medicine | Nephrology | Therapies | Antiviral, nucleoside, chemistry, repurposing, RNA polymerase inhibitors | I am planning to examine several potent antiviral compounds developed at my lab. against CoronaVirus. The compounds are mostly active in the RNA replication and possibly membrane leakage. Some compounds inhibi two enzymes when releases intracellularly. | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Parham, Gerald | Director, Program Development | gparham@uci.edu | Intercollegiate Athletics | |||||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Park, Hannah Lui, Ph.D. | Associate Professor In Residence | hlpark@uci.edu | Medicine | Epidemiology | ||||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Patterson, Joe, PhD in Chemistry | Assistant Professor | patters3@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Therapies | Antiviral, polymer, electron microscopy, mechanism | Collaboration with an academic and industrial partners to create a broad spectrum antiviral drug using polymers. My groups roles is understanding the mechanism of action and providing insight for optimized drug design | Yes | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Pearlman, Eric, PhD | Professor | eric.pearlman@uci.edu | Medicine | Ophthalmology / Physiology & Biophysics | Host immune responses,Pathogenesis,Vaccine development | immune response, inflammation, pathology | Examine the immune response following intranasal infection with SARS-Cov-2 using a susceptible murine model. Proposed studies will characterize the host immune response and correlate specific responses with tissue damage in the lungs. Subsequent studies will characterize the effect of vaccine candidates. | Yes | Bert Semler, Center for Virus Research Ilhem Messaoudi, Center for Virus Research, Institute for Immunology Phil Felgner, Vaccine R&D Center |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Preda, Adrian, MD | Clin X Professor | apreda@uci.edu | Medicine | Psychiatry | Epidemiology,Public Health | epidemiology, mental health, health care workers (HCW), stress, anxiety, depression | Serial survey of frontline health care workers assessing overall mental health as well as targeted stress, depression, and anxiety in frontline health care workers caring for COVID-19 patients | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Prescher, Jennifer, Ph.D. | Professor | jpresche@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Diagnostics,Host immune responses,Molecular virology,Pathogenesis,Therapies,Vaccine development | imaging, host response, pathogenesis, diagnostic, assay | We plan to develop new imaging tools to assess viral spread and host response. | Yes | Rachel Martin (Professor, UCI Chemistry) James Nowick (Professor, UCI Chemistry) Vy Dong (Professor, UCI Chemistry) Zeba Wunderlich (Assistant Professor, Dev Cell Biology) |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Pressman, Sarah, PhD | Associate Professor | pressman@uci.edu | Social Ecology | Psychological Science | Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Read, Elizabeth, PhD | Assistant Professor | elread@uci.edu | Engineering | Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering | Genomics,Host immune responses | single cell analysis, gene networks, dynamical systems modeling | First, we are thinking about applying our newly developed methods of single cell RNA sequencing coexpression landscapes to public COVID-19 related datasets. Preliminarily, these methods might give a more incisive/detailed view of coexpression (e.g., of ACE-2 with other cell-type-specific genes) than current widely utilized methods. Second, we are thinking about applying stochastic dynamical systems approaches (for which we have developed various simulation/analysis tools) to virus-host interaction models at the onset of the disease. Given the huge person-to-person variability, we hypothesize that initial stochastic processes could play a major role in later outcomes; these would not be attributable to genetic or environmental variability and thus harder to find or pin down without dynamical models. | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Redman, Jonathan, M.A. | Ph.D. Candidate | jnredman@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Sociology | Other | Disaster response | Disaster, Response, Preparation, Culture, Expertise | Before the covid crisis I was conducting ethnographic fieldwork with disaster preparedness advocates in Southern California and on YouTube. Since the crisis, but prior to the stay-at-home order I was conducting public observational fieldwork on responses to the covid crisis at various grocery stores across Orange County to collect fieldnotes on citizen disaster response, panic-buying, and other disaster-preparation related activities. Since the stay-at-home order, I have moved to a remote fieldwork model and am focusing on disaster and preparation discourses on YouTube and in the news media. | No | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Rongsheng Jin, PhD | Professor | r.jin@uci.edu | Medicine | Physiology & Biophysics | Therapies | 3D structure, spike glycoprotein, receptor ACE2, neutralizing antibody, passive immunization | we are planning to express and purify the recombinant spike S glycoprotein for the COVID-19 virus and its receptor ACE2. We will then work with our collaborators at Tufts University to screen for high affinity nanobodies that target the ACE2-binding site on SARS-CoV-2. We have established a structure-based platform to develop highly potent bi-functional nanobodies, which was published in Cell Reports just a few weeks ago. We will submit an application for SOM funding and NIH supplement. But, even if we don't get any extra funding, we will do it using our unrestricted fund, and hoping to seek R21/R01 later. | Yes | Charles B. Shoemaker, Professor, Tufts University | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Rouder, Jeffrey N. | Professor | jrouder@uci.edu | Social Sciences | Cognitive Sciences | Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Seggebruch, Michael, Physics and Astronomy PhD Candidate | Ph.D. Candidate | mseggebr@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Physics & Astronomy | Other | Air sterilization. | sterilization, UV, laser, light, purifier | We plan to study the effectiveness and implementation of more affordable UV air sterilization, against viruses, from frequency doubled, cheap blue diode lasers. | No | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Shi, Xiaoyu, PhD | Assistant Professor | xiaoyu.shi@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Developmental & Cell Biology | Epidemiology,Genomics,Molecular virology,Therapies | super-resolution microscopy, virus-cell interaction, cell type, tissue clearing, drug screen | Our lab uses super-resolution microscopy and tissue clearing methods to elucidate the interactions between SARS-CoV-2 virus and different cell types in lung tissues. The results can guide the design of drugs to prevent or treat COVID-19 by blocking the interactions between the viruses and specific cell types. We will also use the same imaging methods to screen the drugs for COVID-19 by evaluating their efficacies in tissues from animal models. | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Shin, Sanghyuk, PhD | Assistant Professor | ssshin2@uci.edu | Nursing | Nursing | Epidemiology,Genomics,Pathogenesis,Public Health | epidemiology, transmission, seroprevalence, co-infection, pathogenesis | I am developing research to determine the impact of HIV and TB infection on the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 patients and SAR-CoV-2 transmission dynamics. This project will be proposed as a supplement to my NIH funded project of TB transmission in Botswana. | Yes | Vladimir Minin, Statistics; Ilhem Messaoudi, MBB | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Siryaporn, Albert | Assistant Professor | asirya@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Physics & Astronomy | Molecular virology,Pathogenesis,Vaccine development | Bacteria, viral decoys, lung bacteria | Our lab works on how bacteria protect themselves from viral infection. One mechanism is through the expression of membrane vesicles, which act as decoys to protect against phage infection. We would like to explore two potential strategies to protect against SARS-CoV2 infection of eukaryotic: through the use of eukaryotic membrane vesicles and through the expression of candidate SARS-CoV2 receptors in lung commensal bacteria. | Yes | This is still being discussed/under development. | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Smith, James, PhD | Professor | jimsmith@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Chemistry | Diagnostics | filters, masks, penetration, efficiency, crowdsource | Identifying Alternative Filter Materials and Mask Designs for the Rapid Production of Crowdsourced Medical Masks | Yes | Mike Kleinman, Professor of Environmental Toxicology and Co-Director of the Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory in the Department of Community and Environmental Medicine, Adjunct Professor in College of Medicine Terence Sanger Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Vice Chair of Research for Pediatrics, School of Medicine Jonathan Realmuto Postdoctoral Scholar in Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science |
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| Planning to conduct research. | Solares, Edwin MS | Ph.D. Candidate | solarese@uci.edu | Biological Sciences | Ecology & Evolutionary Biology | Biostatistics,Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Sorkin, Dara, PHD | Associate professor | Dsorkin@uci.edu | Medicine | Medicine | Public Health,Other | Psychology | Stress and coping, digital mental health, technology usd | Survey on amazon mechanical turke | Yes | Dana Mukamel, Medicine, UCI |
| Planning to conduct research. | Streja, Elani PhD | Assistant Professor | estreja@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Nephrology | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Public Health | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Thiel de Bocanegra, Heike PhD, MPH | Associate Professor | hthiel@hs.uci.edu | Medicine | Obstetrics & Gynecology | Public Health,Other | Evaluation of clinical care (telehealth for prenatal services; needs assessment of pregnant and postpartum women in times of social distancing; mental heatlh impact of COVID-10 | pregnancy, mental health, service delivery, telehealth, postpartum | 1. Dr. Afshan Hameed and I applied for UCI Covid-19 seed funding to assess a hybrid model of prenatal care that allows social distancing (in-person visits, telehealth, self-monitoring of blood pressure and fetal heart beat). 2. I am working with Sacramento County Refugee Health Clinic to conduct a needs assessment of all refugee clients (n=149) and their families on (a) COVID-19 symptoms, (b) chronic medical and contraceptive needs (prescription, advice), and (c) social determinants of health needs (food, housing, etc). This is part of my PCORI funded Refugee Reproducitve Health Network. I will see whether there is similar interest to do this assessment at FHC Sta. Ana (albeit not with refugees). 3. I am considering administering a cohort of women to assess PTSD, depression, and anxiety and their impact on maternal infant health outcomes. | Yes | Afshan Hameed, MD, Clinical Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Clinical Professor, Cardiology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, ahameed@hs.uci.edu |
| Planning to conduct research. | Thompson, Leslie PhD | Professor | lmthomps@uci.edu | Medicine | Psychiatry | Genomics,Other | Working with group who is using AI to inform predictive health outcomes | machine learning, vulnerability scoring system, triage | The primary goal of the submitted proposal from Dr. Chow, Chang and others is to expand our ability to forecast outcomes and triage high-risk COVID-19 patients by leveraging deep learning approaches on routinely acquired medical data. There are also experiments in planning stages to investigate neuronal responses to COVID-19 infection in the context of systems biology and structural biology | Yes | Daniel Chow, Assistant Professor, Radiology Peter Chang, Assistant Professor, Radiology Alpesh N. Amin, Professor, Medicine Bernadette Boden-Albala, Professor and Dean, Population Health Daniela Bota, Associate Professor, Neurology and SCO/UCI Center for Clinical Research Jennifer Elaine Soun, Assistant Professor, Radiology Edwin Monuki, Professor and Chair, Pathology Jung In Park, Assistant Professor, Nursing Xiaohui Xie, Professor, ICS The above are for submitted grant. Also collaboration planned with: Wah Chiu, Professor, Stanford University Judith Frydman, Professor, Stanford University |
| Planning to conduct research. | Tjen-A-Looi, Stephanie, PHD | Project Scientist | stjenalo@uci.edu | Medicine | College of Health Sciences | Host immune responses,Pathogenesis,Therapies | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Tran, Minh-Ha, DO | Clinical Professor | minhhat1@uci.edu | Medicine | Pathology & Laboratory Medicine | Pathogenesis | Hypercoagulable State, Thrombophilia, Microvascular Thrombosis | Evaluated by coagulation marker assays the degree of laboratory hypercoagulability incited by COVID-19 illness. Associate procoagulant status (ie, FVIII levels, PAI-1 levels, Maximum Amplitude and Clotting Time on Rotational Thromboelastometry) and anticoagulant status (ie, levels of Protein C, Protein S, Antithrombin, Tissue Plasminogen Activator) of COVID-19 patients with their clinical outcome. | Yes | Jennifer Woo MD, Department of Pathology, woojs@hs.uci.edu | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Vickers, Darby, PhD Candidate | Ph.D. Candidate | vickersd@uci.edu | Humanities or Arts | Philosophy | Other | I'm going to be looking at the spread of misinformation and disinformation during the pandemic | misinformation, disinformation, fake news, | I was already working on a project which aims to create course materials to help students learn how to spot mis/disinformation and inoculate themselves and their social networks against it. Up until this point, I've been using misinformation about archaeology (pseudoarchaeology), but given the current crisis and the rampant spread of misinformation, I'm going to try to create some materials that focus on misinformation about COVID-19. I will try to get some pilot materials created sooner than I had originally planned. | Yes | The overall project includes two other investigators (listed below), but I have not yet spoken to them about working on the COVID-19 portion of this project Sven Bernecker, Professor, Department of Philosophy Taylor Dunn, graduate student, Department of Philosophy |
| Planning to conduct research. | Wu, Judy, Ph.D. | Professor | j.wu@uci.edu | Humanities or Arts | Asian American Studies | Public Health,Other | I am involved with two research projects. The first is entitled "Learning for Our AAPI Elders: Towards a More Inclusive History of Santa Ana." This project, funded by the Office of Inclusive Excellence Grant, is training UCI students to conduct archival history and oral history to document the experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Santa Ana, a city that celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019. We originally intended to begin the interview phase of our project with community elders. However, given the pandemic and shelter in place orders, we are pivoting the interviews to community leaders who providing services and supporting the needs of AAPI communities in Santa Ana. We will be interviewing them about the impact of the pandemic, particularly on the elderly, but more broadly on the members of their community-based organizations. The second project, funded by the California Humanities, is entitled "Sharing Comfort and Care: Intergenerational Story-mapping in the Cambodian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities of Orange County. This project is just getting started, and we propose to recruit students from UCI, Irvine Valley College, and Coastline Community College to conduct interviews and create digital maps of Pacific Islander and Cambodian communities in Southern California. We are working with two community organizations, The Cambodian Family in Santa Ana and Empowering Pacific Islander Communities in Los Angeles. The focus of this project is on experiences of migration, health care challenges, and foodways. Since health and food are pressing topics in the current pandemic, we plan to expand our study to include questions related to how COVID-19 is introducing new health care challenges as well as perhaps resulting in creative community strategies for self-care related to food. | Asian American, Pacific Islander, history, health, foodways | Please see above in the section on other. The AAPI Elders project team consists of faculty, librarian and students at UCI. The Sharing Comfort and Care project team consists of faculty, librarian, staff, and community leaders at UCI, IVC, CCC, EPIC, and The Cambodian Family. We plan to include questions related to how the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing the lives of Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Southern California with a particular focus on health care challenges and access as well as strategies for self and community care. | Yes | Dorothy Fujita-Rony, Associate Professor, UCI; Isa Quintana, Assistant Professor, UCI; Dr. Thuy Vo Dang, Southeast Asian Archive, UCI Libraries; Madelynn Dickerson, Digital Scholarship Services, UCI Libraries; Dr. Edwin Tiongson, Irvine Valley College; Rene Gutierrez, Coastline Community College; Tavae Samueli, Executive Director, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities; Amina Sen Matthews, Program Director of Health, The Cambodian Family; and Cindy Phou, Health Navigator/Case Manager, the Cambodian Family |
| Planning to conduct research. | Xin, Huolin, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor | huolin.xin@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Physics & Astronomy | Other | We aim to develop an AI-Enabled Natural Language Processing Tools for In-Situ Delivery of Answers to High Priority Scientific Questions from the Rapidly Evolving COVID-19 Literature | Artificial intelligence, natural language processing, COVID-19 Literature, text and data mining | We aim to develop an AI-Enabled Natural Language Processing Tools for In-Situ Delivery of Answers to High Priority Scientific Questions from the Rapidly Evolving COVID-19 Literature | Yes | |
| Planning to conduct research. | Yongxue Chen | Visiting Scholar | yongxuec@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Mathematics | Biostatistics,Epidemiology,Other | Biomathematics | No | |||
| Planning to conduct research. | Yoonjin Won | Assistant Professor | won@uci.edu | Engineering | Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering | Public Health,Other | |||||
| Planning to conduct research. | Yu, Jin, PhD | Assistant Professor | jin.yu@uci.edu | Physical Sciences | Physics & Astronomy | Molecular virology | RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), RNA synthesis, fidelity control, Remdesivir, molecular dynamics simulation | Remdesivir (RDV, or GS-5734) is a broad-spectrum anti-viral compound, developed originally for treatments of Ebola virus disease (EVD), and subsequently for infections including from Middle East and Severe accurate respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-Cov and SARS-Cov). Basically, RDV acts as a nucleoside analog (adenosine) prodrug to interfere with functional fidelity of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a key component of replication-transcription or RNA synthesis machinery encoded in the genomes of all RNA virus. The viral RdRps are highly conserved, sharing a common core structure of a right-hand shape (with fingers, palm, and thumb subdomains) with other single-subunit DNA-directed polymerases. A cryo-EM structure of RdRp from SARS-Cov is established last year, illuminating the assembly of the coronavirus core RNA-synthesis machinery. This month, a similar high-resolution structure of RdRp is presented for SARS-Cov2 (pre-print), which provides a basis for detailed structural dynamics investigation of this core RNA-synthesis machine, as an antiviral drug target for current pandemic, and possibly future ones. The research plan is therefore to computationally probe how such a coronavirus RdPp (or Cov-RdRp) achieves fidelity control of RNA synthesis, and how potential drugs such as RDV and other inhibitors impact on the Cov-RdRp functions. Mutant RdRps capable of gaining drug resistance are also to be considered. Our research team had systematically simulated elongation dynamics of a viral RNA polymerase (RNAP) from bacteriophage T7, which shares the same hand-shaped structure with the core Cov-RdRp. The transcription fidelity control of T7 RNAP has been particularly examined, revealing unprecedented structural dynamics and energetics details on how various nucleotides bind to the active site and are subject to stepwise selections during each nucleotide addition cycle. Along this line, we plan to study how RDV binds/inserts into the active site of the Cov-RdRp, so that to address whether the analogue is subject to or evade from nucleotide selections and proofreading/editing activity of the RdRp at various fidelity checkpoints, in comparison with regular nucleotide substrates. Furthermore, the analogue actions on human mitochondrial RNAP or RNAP II can also be probed, which would be highly relevant to toxicity evaluation for drug developments. | No | ||
| Planning to conduct research. | Zhao, Weian, PhD | Associate Professor | weianz@uci.edu | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Pharmaceutical Sciences | Diagnostics,Therapies,Vaccine development | point-of-care testing, diagnostics, therapy, vaccine | Project 1: Develop fast, point-of-care test for COVID-19 that can be rapidly and broadly deployed at the community level for COVID-19 screening and surveillance. Project 2: Develop a platform technology that can accelerate development of prophylactic and treatment vaccines and antivirus therapeutic antibodies against COVID-19 | Yes | Donald Forthal; Philip Felgner; Enrico Gratton |