{"id":298522,"date":"2020-02-24T00:01:12","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T05:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?p=298522"},"modified":"2020-03-04T15:16:41","modified_gmt":"2020-03-04T20:16:41","slug":"harvard-and-china-collaborate-on-coronavirus-therapies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2020\/02\/harvard-and-china-collaborate-on-coronavirus-therapies\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists from Harvard, China to unite against coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t
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\n\t\tScientists from Harvard, China to unite against coronavirus\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\tEkaterian Pesheva\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\tHMS Communications\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t

\n\t\t\tGroups will share $115M to search for better diagnosis, treatment; Medical School to serve as U.S. research hub\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n
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This is part of our Coronavirus Update<\/a> series in which Harvard specialists in epidemiology, infectious disease, economics, politics, and other disciplines offer insights into what the latest developments in the COVID-19 outbreak may bring.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since it was identified in December, the new coronavirus has quickly become a global threat, infecting nearly 78,000 people and killing more than 2,300, overwhelming vulnerable health care systems, and destabilizing economies worldwide.<\/p>\n

To address these challenges, Harvard University scientists will join forces with colleagues from China to develop therapies to prevent new infections and treat existing ones.<\/p>\n

The U.S. efforts will be spearheaded by scientists at Harvard Medical School (HMS), led by Dean George Q. Daley<\/a>, working alongside colleagues from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. HMS will serve as the hub that brings together the expertise of basic scientists, translational investigators, and clinical researchers at the Medical School and its affiliated hospitals and institutes, along with other regional institutions and biotech companies.<\/p>\n

The Chinese efforts will be led by Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease and Zhong Nanshan, a renowned pulmonologist and epidemiologist. Zhong is also head of the Chinese 2019n-CoV Expert Taskforce and director-general of China State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases.<\/p>\n

Through a five-year collaborative research initiative, Harvard and the Guangzhou Institute will share $115 million in research funding provided by China Evergrande Group, a Fortune Global 500 company in China.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are confident that the collaboration of Harvard and Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease will contribute valuable discoveries to this worldwide effort,\u201d said Harvard University President Larry Bacow. \u201cWe are grateful for Evergrande\u2019s leadership and generosity in facilitating this collaboration and for all the scientists and clinicians rising to the call of action in combating this emerging threat to global well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n

\u201cWe believe that the partnership … offers the hope that we will soon be able to contain the threat of this novel virus.”<\/p>\nAlan M. Garber, Harvard University provost<\/cite><\/blockquote>\r\n\n

\u201cEvergrande is honored to have the opportunity to contribute to the fight against this global public health threat,\u201d said Hui Ka Yan, chair of the China Evergrande Group. \u201cWe thank all the scientists who responded so swiftly and enthusiastically from the Harvard community and are deeply moved by Harvard and Dr. Zhong\u2019s team\u2019s dedication and commitment to this humanitarian cause. We have the utmost confidence in this global collaborative team to reach impactful discoveries against the outbreak soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

While formal details of the collaboration are being finalized, the overarching goal of the effort is to elucidate the basic biology of the virus and its behavior and to inform disease detection and therapeutic design. The main areas of investigation will include:<\/p>\n