As the new coronavirus began crippling New Jersey and the rest of the country earlier this year, it became clear the world needed a better COVID-19 test.
The long swabs stuck into people’s noses and throats were uncomfortable and difficult to administer on a mass scale in a deadly pandemic. Within weeks, researchers had a solution — a simpler saliva test that drew praise from the White House and, eventually, the approval of the FDA.
The idea wasn’t developed by a giant pharmaceutical company or a government research facility. It came from a relatively modest lab based a few blocks from the football stadium on Rutgers University’s Busch campus in Piscataway.
RUCDR Infinite Biologics, part of Rutgers’ respected Human Genetics Institute of New Jersey, jumped on the job of rapidly developing the test with the help of Utah-based Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostic Labs in South Plainfield.
It was a “herculean effort,” Rutgers University President Robert Barchi said.
The saliva test is one of hundreds of major COVID-19-related research projects underway in labs around the world as scientists race to understand the virus, track its spread, find a vaccine and, if we’re lucky, a cure.
New Jersey — with its unique concentration of research universities, pharmaceutical companies and teaching hospitals in the heart of the outbreak — has become a hotspot for coronavirus research. Rutgers alone has more than 25 research projects underway. Princeton University has announced at least a dozen.
In some cases, New Jersey labs have gotten emergency funding from the federal government to research aspects of the virus. In other cases, researchers have adapted their existing projects to answer important questions about COVID-19.
Here are some of the coronavirus-related projects underway across New Jersey:
Finding a vaccine
Pharmaceutical companies, including several with New Jersey ties, are in the high-profile race to be the first to develop and market a coronavirus vaccine.
Who: In New Jersey, New Brunswick-based Johnson & Johnson has been most vocal about its work on a potential vaccine. The health care giant said it has a possible candidate in the works and it could be ready to test on humans as early as September. J&J’s research arm in the Netherlands has been working on the vaccine and officials in New Brunswick seem to be gearing up for possible distribution, inking a deal last month with Emergent BioSolutions in Maryland to ramp up its production capabilities. J&J’s chief science officer said they will be ready to manufacture and distribute 1 billion doses globally if and when a vaccine is ready.
Why it’s important: Experts and government officials have said until there is an effective vaccine available globally it is unlikely life will truly get back to what many consider normal. For drug companies, being the first to market a vaccine could be a financial and public relations victory.
Learning how human breathing is spreading the virus
We know the simple act of breathing in and out can spread COVID-19 if people are standing close enough together. But how does that actually work? How close do you have to be? There has been remarkably little research on how viruses are physically spread through breathing and speaking.
Who: Howard Stone, a Princeton University professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, received a $200,000 National Science Foundation grant this month to study “the complex flows associated with speech and breathing during a conversation or nearby encounter and show how transmission of particles between individuals occurs.”
Why it’s important: The fluid dynamics research could help craft new guidelines on how to prevent the transmission of the virus, the grant said.
Does hydroxychloroquine really work?
There has been controversy surrounding hydroxychloroquine, a drug usually used to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases, as a possible treatment for COVID-19. President Donald Trump said he took it, though some studies say it could be dangerous for your heart and it’s unclear how effective it is for treating coronavirus.
Who: Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey director Steven Libutti is collaborating with other sites around the country to do a clinical trial of the drug hydroxychloroquine. The New Jersey trial includes patients at the cancer institute, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, Morristown Medical Center and University Hospital in Newark.
Why it’s important: In addition to telling researchers whether hydroxychloroquine is effective in a large number of patients, the year-long trial will test whether combining the antibiotic azithromycin with hydroxychloroquine is better than just giving patients hydroxychloroquine alone for COVID-19.
Using cellphones for contact tracing
Can public health officials use the cellphone data from people diagnosed with coronavirus to quickly track down everyone they’ve been near? Can they do it while maintaining everyone’s privacy?
Who: Kyle Jamieson, a Princeton University associate professor of computer science, has received an emergency National Science Foundation grant and university funding to develop a cellphone system for government officials to track the contacts of people diagnosed with COVID-19. Jamieson’s system, called CoV-2-Traceback, would allow cellphone owners to voluntarily unlock data in their phones to show public health officials other cellphones they’ve been near within a certain amount of feet for a specified amount of time.
Why it’s important: The cellphone system could be critical for contact tracing if there is a second wave of the virus moving through the population, university officials said.
Building a better face mask
Wearing face masks in public has become a way of life during the pandemic. For health care workers, an effective mask can be the difference between life and death. But even the best masks are little more than paper or fabric.
Who: Dilhan Kaylon, Stevens Institute of Technology’s interim vice provost for research, innovation and entrepreneurship, is working on materials for the next generation of surgical masks and air-filtering respirator masks. His research uses nanofibrous membranes, called nanobursa meshes, that can have anti-viral properties to better protect wearers from the virus. With funding from the National Science Foundation, Kaylon has already used the material in other projects, including materials for tissue engineering.
Why it’s important: Many health experts say face masks are one of the keys to preventing a second wave of coronavirus infections as states begin to reopen. But most of us are wearing masks little better than the ones worn in the 1918 flu pandemic.
Using math to track COVID-19 as it mutates
All viruses mutate into new strains and the new coronavirus is expected to do the same. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon and Princeton universities teamed up to release a new mathematical model in March to help officials track an epidemic when a virus starts to mutate into more or less contagious versions. Now, they are updating the model to track if countermeasures like quarantines and travel bans are working.
Who: H. Vincent Poor, Princeton University’s interim dean of engineering, is an expert in cellphone and electrical grid networks. He has teamed with experts at Carnegie Mellon to use data to create a COVID-19 math model that accurately predicts how the virus is spreading, even as it mutates. The group has funding from the Army Research Office, Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation.
Why it’s important: The updated math model can be used by government officials to quickly know why the virus is spreading more slowly or quickly than predicted — and if policies, like stay-at-home orders, are helping.
Speeding up human trials for a vaccine
Vaccines typically take years to develop, thanks in part to lengthy trial periods that involve testing humans. What if those trials could be dramatically accelerated by deliberately giving volunteers the coronavirus?
Who: Rutgers bioethics expert Nir Eyal co-authored a paper in March with colleagues from Harvard University and the University of London calling for using a “human challenge study” where volunteers would be exposed to the virus, then get either a potential vaccine or a placebo. Though that type of study could be viewed as highly unethical, Eyal argues a system using healthy young volunteers could be designed to minimize the risk of death. Eyal is teaming up with Rutgers Chancellor Brian Strom and pharmacy expert Tobias Gerhard to design a protocol.
Why it’s important: Each day that passes without a vaccine could mean thousands more deaths. Human challenge trials have been used in the past for flu, typhoid and malaria, but they are considered unconventional and would require the government and pharmaceutical companies to agree to try them. So far, more than 25,000 volunteers have signed up to be exposed to coronavirus for vaccine trials through the New York nonprofit group 1DaySooner, though it is unclear if they will be used.
Building a $50 ventilator
As the pandemic unfolded, hospitals and government officials spent significant time and money in the scramble to track down, buy and transport costly ventilators for COVID-19 victims. That led to questions about whether the technology could be updated.
Who: Carrie Perlman, a Stevens Institute of Technology assistant professor of biomedical engineering, is working in her Hoboken lab with doctoral student Alcendino Jardim-Neto on a $50 portable ventilator that can be connected to multiple patients. They are also studying a nontoxic red dye originally used as food coloring in Japan that has shown promise in coating and protecting lungs from overstretching when patients are on a ventilator. They are working with the National Institutes of Health on the projects.
Why it’s important: Running out of ventilators was one the biggest fears during the pandemic as states quickly realized they may not be able to handle a surge in coronavirus cases. Italy’s shortage of ventilators forced overwhelmed hospitals tp prioritize younger patients over older adults who needed help breathing.
Creating a less-dangerous coronavirus for labs
Working with live samples of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, is dangerous and requires lab workers to wear biohazard suits under strict safety measures to do even basic research. What if there was a less scary form of the virus for researchers to study?
Who: Alexander Ploss, a top virologist and associate professor of molecular biology at Princeton University, has teamed up with chemistry professor David MacMillan’s lab. Both study how the virus attaches to cells and develop a version of SARS-CoV-2 that is less dangerous for labs to work with. Their work could test possible vaccine methods and develop a “mouse model” that could be used to test treatments. Ploss has received a $100,000 grant from the university.
Why it’s important: A less-deadly version of the virus that can be studied with minimal safety measures would greatly expand the number of people who can work on research. That could speed up the development of vaccines and treatments.
Tracking how health care workers are getting COVID-19
Rutgers University is running the largest study in the nation of health care workers exposed to COVID-19. More than 800 workers from Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and University Hospital in Newark are being studied for six months.
Who: Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School officials Reynold Panettieri, Jeffrey Carson and Martin Blaser are overseeing the study of who gets the virus and how severely they get sick. In an add-on to the study, all 6,500 Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital employees and clinicians are also being screened for coronavirus antibodies.
Why it’s important: Hospitals need to know what percentage of their workers are likely to get COVID-19 in an outbreak — and what is putting workers most at risk. They also need to know if exposed workers are developing immunity, allowing them to return to the front lines with less risk once they recover.
Why are mildly sick young people dying of COVID-19 strokes?
It’s one of the many unsolved mysteries of the coronavirus: Hospitals are reporting otherwise healthy people in their 30s and 40s who have tested positive are suddenly suffering the types of strokes usually seen in people twice their age.
Who: Peter Galie, a biomedical engineer and associate professor at Rowan University, is researching the effect the coronavirus has on the barrier between the blood and the brain. The coronavirus gets it name from the crown-like spikes rising from its surfaces. Galie is looking at whether proteins on those spikes are somehow contributing to the increase in strokes in COVID-19 patients.
Why it’s important: The number of people suffering COVID-19 strokes is relatively small. But understanding why and how the virus is attacking patients’ brains could help unravel the biological mechanics that continue to baffle scientists.
Why are some nursing homes crippled by virus?
The pandemic’s impact on nursing homes has been staggering. In New Jersey, more than 40% of COVID-19 deaths were residents of long-term care facilities. Some nursing homes have been so hard hit, they’ve had to shut down. Others have emerged mostly unscathed.
Who: Olga Jarrín Montaner, a Rutgers School of Nursing assistant professor and expert in gerontology, is leading a team looking at COVID-19 deaths in New Jersey. They are looking at the quality indicators in each nursing home, including how many registered nurses were on staff, to see what factors may be leading to high death rates.
Why it’s important: Critics say nursing home residents are among those who have been most let down by officials and institutions in the pandemic. Understanding exactly which nursing home conditions are linked to COVID-19 deaths could lead to reforms that help save lives.
Treating COVID-19 patients from afar
Anyone who’s had COVID-19 knows seeing a doctor can be complicated. Most offices and clinics don’t want you sitting in their waiting room, mingling with staff and other patients. Some want to see you in a parking lot or an outside tent if you suspect you have contracted the virus. Others don’t want you to come in at all.
Who: Joshua Coren, chair of the family medicine department at Rowan University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, has been awarded a $95,500 federal grant to develop a telehealth curriculum to teach medical students how to treat COVID-19 patients. The project will train medical students to screen and test patients, then manage their cases and outpatient care using telemedicine.
Why it’s important: Though few have been trained in telemedicine, nearly half of doctors have turned to video chats and phone calls to treat patients during the pandemic, according to one survey. That’s likely to continue.
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Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com.
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