Amid the worst public health emergency in a lifetime, UF Health leaders have taken steps to speed novel coronavirus research, recognizing the urgent need to provide answers and options to the communities they serve. In April, the CTSI and the Office of the Senior Vice President for Health Affairs created a $2 million pilot research fund for scientists with translational projects that can be rapidly mobilized. The RFA drew unprecedented interest from research teams and resulted in projects spanning colleges and the translational spectrum, all focused on a single, urgent issue. Read more about individual projects in the stories and news releases linked below, and watch recordings of online seminars given by awardees.
CTSI Pilot funding awardees
Rapid-Response Translational Research Projects to Address COVID-19 Pandemic
This RFA was designed to support projects that could be accomplished in six months or less and would contribute new knowledge that could inform the COVID-19 response and/or lay critical groundwork for subsequent research while extramural funding opportunities emerged.
The CTSI COVID-19 Task Force
About the Task Force
The CTSI COVID-19 Task Force supports the rapid-response pilot awards.
Pilot Awardees
uf college of medicine
Scott Brakenridge, MD, MSCS
Assistant Professor of Surgery on the acute care surgery team, UF Health, Department of Surgery
UF College of Medicine
Ashley Brown, PhD
Associate Professor, Institute for Therapeutic Innovation
UF COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
Jürgen Bulitta, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacotherapy and Translational Research
UF COLLEGE OF DENTISTRY
Robert Burne, PhD
Louis and Marge Atkins Endowed Professor, Distinguished Professor, Department of Oral Biology, Associate Dean for Research
UF COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATIONS | uf college of medicine
Carma Bylund, PhD
Professor, Department of Public Relations, Division of Hematology & Oncology, College of Medicine, Member, UF Health Cancer Center
UF COllege of Medicine
Benoit Giasson, PhD
Professor, Department of Neuroscience, Investigator, CTRND and McKnight Brain Institute
UF COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
Yan Gong, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacotherapy & Translational Research
UF COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Christopher Harle, PhD
Professor & Chief Research Information Officer, Department of Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics
UF COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Frederic Kaye, MD
Professor of Medicine, Medical Director of the Thoracic Oncology Program, Director of the Lung Cancer Center, Division of Hematology & Oncology
UF COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH & HEALTH PROFESSIONS
David Marra, PhD
Post-Doctoral Associate, McKnight Brain Institute, Department of Clinical Health & Health Psychology
UF COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Peter McFetridge, PhD
Associate Professor, Integra LifeSciences Term Professor, Graduate Coordinator, Department of Biomedical Engineering
UF COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH & HEALTH PROFESSIONS
Sarah McKune, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental & Global Health
UF COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Lisa Merck, MD, MPH, MA, FACEP
Associate Professor, Vice Chair Of Research, Department of Emergency Medicine
UF COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE
David Pascual, PhD
Professor of Immunology, Department of Infectious Diseases & Pathology, Emerging Pathogens Institute
UF COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE
Leah Reznikov, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiological Sciences
UF COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH & HEALTH PROFESSIONS
Nicola Sambuco, PhD
Post-Doctoral Associate, Department of Clinical & Health Psychology, Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention
Uf coLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Gregory Sawyer, PhD
Ebaugh Professor, Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
UF COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
Elias Sayour, PhD
Assistant Professor, Departments of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, Principal Investigator of the RNA Engineering Laboratory, Preston A. Wells, Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy, UF Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program
UF COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE
Christopher Vulpe, MD, PhD
Professor, Department of Physiological Sciences
rapid-response pilot awardee presentations
Translational Science of COVID-19 Seminar Series
The Translational Science of COVID-19 Seminar Series features UF investigators funded by the Rapid-Response Translational Research Projects to Address COVID-19 Pandemic pilot program.
News and Updates
April 7, 2020
UF Health making coronavirus testing available to first responders and ER employees
Local first responders and emergency room employees who do not have symptoms of the novel coronavirus but nonetheless worry they have been exposed to it can now receive testing at University of Florida. Health.
April 23, 2020
UF study looks at the extent to which children contribute to coronavirus transmission
A new University of Florida study aims to gain a better understanding of the role children play in community transmission of COVID-19.
May 14, 2020
Quicker reviews, designated funding is speeding COVID-19 research efforts at UF Health
University of Florida Health researcher Mark Brantly, M.D., and his team are working to evaluate a drug treatment for the novel coronavirus that might block the deadly inflammatory response caused by the disease that curtails the lungs’ ability to function.
June 8, 2020
UF researchers study whether approved drugs can block transmission of virus behind COVID-19
A new study by University of Florida researchers aims to identify a drug or drugs that can potentially be used to prevent and/or treat infection with COVID-19 by interfering with a known behavior of the virus — the way it binds to its cellular receptor, facilitating transmission to the respiratory system.
July 27, 2020
CTSI pilots, task force spark COVID-19 innovation
For UF researchers, pausing and resuming work brought challenges and sparked creativity as hundreds of teams across campus took aim at COVID-19.
All Pilot Project Awardees
| Name | college | Department | project title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Brakenridge, MD, MSCS | Medicine | Surgery | Immunophenotyping the COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients |
| Ashley Brown, PhD | Medicine | Medicine | Identification of effective antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 |
| Jürgen Bulitta, PhD | Pharmacy | Pharmacotherapy | Developing innovative therapeutic strategies to combating Sars-CoV-2 |
| Robert Burne, PhD | Dentistry | Oral Biology | Antiviral Potential of Commensal Streptococci |
| Carma Bylund, PhD | Journalism | Medicine | Public Relations | Hematology/Oncology | Doctor-Patient Cancer Communications through Telemedicine during COVID-19 |
| Benoit Giasson, PhD | Medicine | Neuroscience | Novel antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein for therapeutic targeting |
| Yan Gong, PhD | Pharmacy | Pharmacotherapy & Translational Research | Genomics and Pharmacogenomics of susceptibility and severity of COVID-19 in the UK Biobank |
| Christopher Harle, PhD | Medicine | Health Outcomes & Biomedical Informatics | Rapid Development of Pandemic Models for Actionable Clinical and Administrative Decision Support |
| Frederic Kaye, MD | Medicine | Hematology & Oncology | Randomized trial of bicalutamide to block TMPRSS2 in males with COVID-19 infection |
| David Marra, PhD | Public Health & Health Professions | Clinical & Health Psychology | Investigating Prevalence and Impact of Neurologic Manifestation in COVID-19 Positive Patients:A OneFlorida Research Consortium Study |
| Peter McFetridge, PhD | Engineering | Biomedical Engineering | A Novel Approach to Induce Rapid Healing, and Minimize Proinflammatory Responses in Covid-19 critical care patients: A pilot stud |
| Sarah McKune, PhD | Public Health & Health Professions | Environmental & Global Health | Characterization of COVID-19 Infection and Family Resilience in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic School-Age Children |
| Lisa Merck, MD | Medicine | Emergency Medicine | Epidemiology of COVID-19 in First Responders |
| David Pascual, PhD | Veterinary Medicine | Infectious Diseases & Pathology | Mucosal Subunit Vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 |
| Leah Reznikov, PhD | Veterinary Medicine | Physiological Sciences | Targeted disruption of ACE2-SARS-CoV-2 interactions using small molecules |
| Nicola Sambuco, PhD | Public Health & Health Professions | Clinical & Health Psychology | Exposure to COVID-19 trauma and risk factors for developing psychopathology |
| Gregory Sawyer, PhD | Engineering | Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering | CLEARED: Culture of Living-biopsies for Emerging Airway-pathogens and REspiratory Disease (3D printing of lungs and SARS-Cov2) |
| Elias Sayour, MD, PhD | Medicine | Neurosurgery | Nanoparticle vaccines targeting SARS CoV 2 |
| Christopher Vulpe, MD, PhD | Veterinary Medicine | Physiological Sciences | Identification of host determinants of SARS-CoV-2 infection |