Here are three important links for researchers:

• University’s COVID-19 website for important updates and guidance on working, teaching, and learning remotely
• University of Rochester Medical Center website for restrictions, resources, and news
• Office of Research and Project Administration (ORPA) site on Coronavirus 2019 resources related to sponsored programs

The National Center for Advancing Translational Science has issued a Notice of Special Interest seeking applications for research into the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Learn more about this funding opportunity and others from the NIH, National Science Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on the URMC funding page.

As the number of COVID-19 cases increases, UR Medicine and Rochester Regional Health have implemented universal masking to help slow the spread of the virus. This is the latest of several actions the health systems have taken in recent weeks to slow the spread of novel coronavirus. Universal masking is a preventative strategy to keep health care workers safe and slow the increase in COVID-19 cases.

The new policy requires all faculty and staff to wear a surgical mask in all patient care areas within the UR Medicine health system.

Patient and visitor masking is dependent on a patient’s COVID-19 status and whether the patient/visitor is in a hospital or ambulatory setting.

In keeping with guidelines issued by the Monroe County Department of Public Health, UR Medicine hospitals have implemented a zero-visitation policy to further our efforts to protect patients and staff from the spread of COVID-19.

Visitors are no longer permitted with these exceptions:

• One guardian (the same guardian) for pediatric patients for the duration of their hospital admission.
• One support person for obstetric patients is permitted to be present during labor, and throughout the post-partum period until discharge.
  • Once the support person arrives on the unit, they will be screened for symptoms, including temperature. Those with symptoms will be asked to leave the hospital. These screening measures will be completed twice daily throughout the hospitalization.
  • The support person MUST remain with their patient continually and cannot leave the patient’s room without the patient at any time. Please note, there will be NO exceptions – this includes leaving to smoke or get food. If someone smokes, it is recommended to bring nicotine replacement with them.
  • A guest meal for the support person will be delivered to the patient’s room with the patient’s tray, at no extra charge.

Staff are working with each family to stay in touch via FaceTime, Skype, phone, and email.

Read more here.

Needs are changing quickly, but consider donating supplies, including hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment such as masks, safety glasses, and gloves; food; or money to support their efforts. Be sure to review the specific guidelines for what items can be accepted.

It’s important that you NOT bring your donation to one of our hospitals without contacting them first. If you would like to donate supplies or food, email covid19donationsSMH@urmc.rochester.edu. You can also give to the Medical Center COVID-19 Emergency Fund.

Individuals can register their interest in participating in future research studies, including COVID-19/coronavirus studies, at the UR CTSI Research Participant Registry. Learn more, register, and share with your patients, friends and family.

With so many faculty, staff, and students working remotely, the University has enabled new VPN (virtual private network) services for both Medical Center and non-Medical Center users to help with congestion. VPN is used to access restricted University resources from off-campus locations through a secured internet connection. Anyone who needs general access into the University can now take advantage of these new systems for VPN access.

• Non-Medical Center users, please use vpnconnect.rochester.edu, unless you have requested a reserved IP address for specific firewall access and services. If you have any issues with the new service, contact the University IT Help Desk at (585) 275-2000.
• For Medical Center users, contact the ISD Help Desk at (585) 275-3200 for assistance with setting up or accessing VPN.

Additional technology tips for remote work are available here.

In an effort to better meet the needs of faculty during these disrupting times, the following new zoom workshops have been added to the Online Learning Workshops for University faculty members, graduate students, and other instructors.

Teaching During Times of Disruption – Part II
This will build on the first TDTD workshop and cover advanced capabilities in Zoom, Strategies for Online Discussion, Rubrics for Assignments, Peer Review activities, and Facilitating Student Presentations.
April 7:  noon -1 p.m.
April 10: 10-11 a.m.
April 13: 4-5 p.m.

(Click here for a site with more information about Learning During Times of Disruption.)

Moving from Disruption to Online Teaching
This will cover Misperceptions about Online Learning, Online Learning Research, Designing Instruction, the Online Course Template, a faculty guest, and the Advanced Series in Online Teaching for UR faculty.
April 16: noon-1 p.m.
April 20: 10-11 a.m.

Please confirm that audio and video preferences on your computer are enabled prior to the start of the sessions. RSVP here. Questions? Email Adele Coelho.

Rochester alumnus and historian John Barry ’69 (MA) has been much in the news this spring. The author of the award-winning 2004 book The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, Barry has shared insights on similarities and differences between the 1918 influenza pandemic and the 2019 novel coronavirus pandemic.

In guest essays in the Washington Post (note: behind paywall) and the New York Times, and in appearances on CBS News and other national outlets, he has made several key points:

• The most important lesson from the 1918 pandemic is “to tell the truth.” Faced with concern about wartime morale in 1918, warnings by doctors in Philadelphia to cancel a planned war bond parade were never printed. The parade went ahead, and in 48 hours, Philadelphia became an epicenter of the illness with an eventual death toll of 14,500.
• Restrictions designed to impose social distancing may have to be repeated. Barry wrote in the New York Times that even with influenza’s much shorter incubation period, many cities in 1918 “imposed restrictions, lifted them too soon, then reimposed them.”
• The long-term course of COVID-19 is yet to be understood. Barry noted that the 1918 influenza pandemic didn’t end until 1920. One reason was that people began to develop immunity. Another reason was that the virus mutated in ways that made it less lethal. How novel coronavirus will behave is unknown.

“The international COVID-19 pandemic is many things, but its deepest impact may be fostering a recognition that this machine of civilization that we built is a whole lot more fragile than we thought. And that is why, in the long term, the coronavirus will one day be seen as a fire drill for climate change,” says Adam Frank, professor of astrophysics, in an essay for NBC News.

“Like this pandemic, climate change is also going to push on the networks that make up our civilization. Unlike the pandemic, its effects will be long term, and there won’t be a vaccine that can save us.”

Infectious disease experts for years warned us we needed to be prepared for a pandemic of this scale, Frank notes. “The magnitude of that warning was not heeded, and now we are all paying the price.”  Similarly, scientists who study climate change have used the same kinds of mathematical tools that epidemiologists have deployed, to “predict the course of global warming, lay out its potential effects, and tell us what needs to be done to avoid calamity.

“The pandemic has awakened us from our slumber. It is letting us see the real consequences of denial. That may be the most important lesson.”

The UR CTSI UNYTE Pipeline-to-Pilot grant provides awards up to $10,000 to stimulate early phase research partnerships between University faculty and UNYTE member institution faculty, facilitating their ability to compete as a collaborative team for future funding for translational biomedical research.

The focus of the application should be on a planning effort leading to a pilot-funding application through the UR CTSI, NIH, or other funding agency. Apply by 5 p.m. Monday April 6. Learn more.

The UR CTSI Community-Based Participatory Research Program Pipeline-to-Pilot grant provides up to $15,000 for academic and community partners who are currently completing the UR CTSI’s Introduction to CBPR training or who have demonstrated experience in CBPR.

Research teams must consist of one faculty member or trainee (defined as a graduate student, medical student, resident, postdoc, or fellow in a training program) or a staff member with a faculty mentor from the University of Rochester and at least one community partner from the greater Rochester area. Apply by 5 p.m., Monday, April 20. Learn more.

(In light of the University’s new guidance on Coronavirus —and to help eliminate confusion about the status of upcoming University events during this rapidly evolving situation — Research Connections will not be including any event listings, at least for the short term. The best way to stay up to date on the status of University events is to check events.rochester.edu, which will include cancellations or other changes as they are announced. Thank you for your understanding.)

COMPETITIONS

April 15: Deadline to submit images for the annual Art of Science competition. Read more here.

GRANT DEADLINES

April 6: Deadline to apply for UNYTE Pipeline-to-Pilot grants from the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI).

April 20: Deadline to apply for Community-Based Participatory Research Program Pipeline-to-Pilot grants from the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (UR CTSI).

May 1: Deadline to apply for pilot project funding from five programs, through the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience. Learn more.

May 3: Deadline to apply for pilot project funding from the Center for Research on Flavored Tobacco (CRoFT) for research to inform FDA regulation of tobacco products. The application should be submitted through the REDCap portal at http://j.mp/39bC1WF. Questions?  Application contact: Jacqueline Attia, WNY_CRoFT@urmc.rochester.edu Scientific/research contacts:  Scott Steele, scott_steele@urmc.rochester.edu or Deborah Ossip, deborah_ossip@urmc.rochester.edu