Countering Coronavirus

Oct 13 2020 | Faculty Photo Credit: Eileen Baroso | Face Shield Illustration: Courtesy of Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic.

Chemical Engineering Professor Faye McNeill in her lab.

Leveraging cross-disciplinary expertise, the Columbia Engineering community continues to address urgent needs and rapidly deploy effective solutions for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Business executive and Board of Visitors member Bing Zhao MS’92 PhD’94 donated $1 million to support key initiatives, including treatment and diagnostics. As part of this gift, Sam Sia of biomedical engineering (BME) is working to streamline current rapid test formats for home use and easier interpretation of results. Sia’s project—an affordable, portable, and faster point-of-care test using the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction—recently entered phase 1 of the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Initiative.

At the same time, Jingyue Ju of chemical engineering discovered molecules that shut down the SARS-CoV-2 polymerase reaction. The hepatitis C drug Sofosbuvir, Ju’s team identified inhibits SARS-COV-2 polymerase, is currently in COVID-19 clinical trial in four countries. Ju’s group is also among four Columbia teams sharing a $2.1 million-dollar grant from the Jack Ma Foundation to develop antivirals and antibodies as therapeutics.

Other pandemic researchers include Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, also of BME, who’s using small and large animal models to develop a potential inhalation treatment for COVID-induced acute respiratory syndrome on a grant funded by NIH and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

Kartik Chandran of earth and environmental engineering is working with officials across the U.S. to actively monitor wastewater streams in order to identify and potentially predict community COVID footprints. Chandran’s group targets and sequences genetic fingerprints of wastewater pathogens to infer rising levels of human disease; a deviation in microbial trends can trigger increased testing and other interventions. This work has also expanded to other countries.

From the earliest days of the pandemic, many faculty pivoted to strategizing life-saving interventions. As a central hub for funding and project opportunities, the School’s ad hoc COVID Innovation Group was instrumental in launching more than 20 research projects, including several partnering engineers with frontline clinical colleagues and designing and manufacturing personal protective equipment (PPE). Researchers also received two NSF RAPID Grants for non-medical, non-clinical research, to investigate impacts to internet infrastructure (Ethan Katz-Bassett of electrical engineering) and novel decontamination foam formulations (Ponisseril Somasundaran of earth and environmental engineering).

Our community is not just meeting university guidelines for reopening. Our PIs are implementing approved plans tailored to enhance productivity and safety for their individual circumstances.

Shih-Fu Chang
Senior Executive Vice Dean

Face Shield.

With the dramatic reduction in COVID-19 cases in New York, labs across Columbia Engineering resumed operations. The university’s phase 1 reopening began on June 22, as officials rolled out stringent new protocols protecting researchers returning to campus. As a result, the majority of engineering labs are up and running at lowered capacity to support physical distancing. In addition, researchers are individually required to obtain a baseline SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test, wear PPE, receive health and safety training, and conduct daily symptom self-checks. Traffic control measures and frequent sanitation of facilities are practiced daily.

“Our community is not just meeting university guidelines for reopening,” says Senior Executive Vice Dean Shih-Fu Chang. “Our PIs are also implementing approved plans tailored to enhance productivity and safety for their individual circumstances.”

In September, Columbia partnered with Tech:NYC and the New York State Department of Health to conduct user testing on a contact tracing app designed ultimately to be rolled out across the state. The app will leverage Bluetooth technology and anonymized data to alert users who may have been in contact with an infected person and share further instructions from the NYS health department.

Harnessing the energy and talents of our students, the School launched a full slate of related programing, including eight design challenges. Here, graduates, postdocs and undergraduates came together to tackle shortages in medical equipment, challenges in manufacturing vaccines at scale, and developing human-centered technology for a more just and cohesive society, as well as tools to promote safer public transit and medical care in a world shaped by COVID. Mindful of the School’s commitment to building a more sustainable future, teams also explored revolutionary possibilities for clean energy storage. Several students launched independent initiatives, including those shoring up PPE stockpiles and developing tools for community building amid historic disruption.

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