INVENTING THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE
UW Bioengineering COVID-related News
When mixed with fluid from a nasal swab or blood sample, these protein sensors emit light within minutes. BioE graduate student Alfredo Quijano-Rubio co-led the work at the Institute for Protein Design.
A number of UW Bioengineering faculty members quickly pivoted and are adapting their research to addressing the needs created by the coronavirus pandemic. From developing rapid at-home tests and protective masks to vaccines and treatments, here is a sampling of some of the ways UW BioE faculty, staff and students are stepping up to help.
A group of UW Bioengineering undergraduates came together this spring to develop a way to promote public understanding of the COVID-19 crisis. Through two design challenge competitions and the aid of mentors, they have refined their idea and are developing a platform that aims to capture how well the public understands the disease and identify gaps in knowledge.
The multi-institution Center for Reproducible Biomedical Modeling, led by UW Bioengineering Professor Herbert Sauro, is partnering with top U.S. government agencies to determine how credible several commonly used COVID-19 models are.
Barry Lutz, associate professor, and his lab are working on multiple fronts to support the need for coronavirus testing. Within days, his team shifted from helping with the Seattle Flu Study to COVID-19, and his lab began developing community and at-home tests.
The Paul Yager Lab at UW Bioengineering is applying its rapid, low-cost testing technology, called UbiNAAT, to COVID-19 tests, which could be used by untrained people in their homes as well as in health care facilities and low-resource settings around the world.
UW Bioengineering Assistant Professor Patrick Boyle and his collaborators in UW cardiology and epidemiology are developing a way to use artificial intelligence to help frontline health care workers predict which COVID-19 patients are at highest risk for heart complications from the illness.
