Purdue researchers focused on coronavirus

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) – Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, Purdue University has launched more than 30 research projects and has applied for funding for nearly 20 more.

According to Theresa Mayer, executive vice president for research and partnerships at Purdue, research on aspects of the pandemic began more than two months ago.

“Many of our scientists and engineers began shifting their work to the novel coronavirus soon after it first became known, even before the first scientific articles about the virus were published in early February,” said Mayer. “For example, Andy Mesecar, who has studied various coronaviruses for most of his career, received genetic information about the virus on Friday, January 17 and began synthesizing the genes for producing a set of target proteins that would make suitable drug targets.”

The research being conducted at Purdue falls into these general areas: understanding the virus and improving scientific methods, development of diagnostic tools, development of therapeutics, and improving current medical supplies.

“Some of our researchers are part of national or international collaborative research projects, and some launched research just with their labs, many establishing internal Purdue teams. Either way, we’ve had an outpouring of researchers who are doing what they can to address this global problem,” said Richard Kuhn, Director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease.

You can learn more about some of the projects from Purdue by clicking here.