Twelve University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine faculty who have received pilot grants from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust as part of a new COVID-19 research program. The pilot grants funded eight research projects that aim to advance the fundamental aspects and biology of the novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. One of the goals of the pilot grant program is to develop new knowledge that will serve as the foundation for future COVID-19 studies that merit extramural funding.
Marco Hefti, MD, Department of Pathology, and Li-Chun (Queena) Lin, PhD, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, project entitled "Neuropathological assessment of COVID-19-related neurodegeneration" was one of the eight first round projects funded.
The purpose of this project is to understand how COVID-19 infection—and the often long hospital and ICU stays that patients often have as a result—affects the brain. This includes both immediate effects of COVID-19 on the brain and long-term effects on patients who have recovered. Hefti and colleagues are particularly interested in the relationship between COVID-19 and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The pilot grant program was established in fall 2020 with the support of a $1 million gift from Carver Charitable Trust through the UI Center for Advancement. Individual lab projects may be awarded up to $50,000 in pilot project funding; collaborating teams of two or more investigators may receive up to $75,000.
“Basic science research is key to understanding living systems at the cellular and molecular levels, which can lead to better ways to predict, prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases such as COVID-19,” says Patricia Winokur, MD, executive dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine. “Thanks to the generosity and vision of the Carver Trust, our research teams can make high-impact contributions to a growing body of COVID-19 studies.”
“The SARS-CoV-2 virus and its mutant variants are likely to persist as serious threats in our communities for the foreseeable future, so efforts seeking a more complete understanding of their biology and physiological effects remain absolutely critical areas of scientific inquiry,” says Troy Ross, PhD, CEO of the Carver Charitable Trust. “Supporting these studies with strategic and flexible funding reflects the Carver Trust’s dedication to responsible philanthropy that positively impacts, protects, and improves human health.”