Unicamp's task force against Covid-19 won a website for publicizing its actions. At the address (http://www.ftcovid19.unicamp.br/), information is gathered about the team that has been working on different fronts in the fight against coronavirus.
The action plans for each front and the status of work in progress can be found on the website. “There is an emphasis on the diagnostics front which, at this moment, is the front that has been pulling the task force as it is working directly on the development of tests for the region”, observes professor at the Institute of Biology Marcelo Mori, coordinator of the force -task.
He also highlights that there is a tab for donations, highlighting the need for resources to carry out the work, and a section with news published in the media about the task force.
The task force
The Unicamp task force was created in March, given the scenario of the arrival of the new coronavirus epidemic in Brazil. It brings together researchers from different areas with the aim of leveraging measures to combat Covid-19 (the disease caused by the new coronavirus).
The team is organized through work fronts. Currently, there are 11 Fronts: Diagnosis; Basic Research; Communication; Fund-raising; Articulation; Clinical Trials; Modeling and Epidemiology; Research and Development; Biomedical engineering; Technological and the recently created Social Actions Front.
For Marcelo Mori, the results of the group's performance are extremely positive. “The force has been operating for just over a month and in this month we see revolutionary things happen”, he assesses. One of the highlighted points is the integration between the different areas of knowledge at Unicamp. “The interdisciplinary articulation is unprecedented. This ability to integrate areas to see quick solutions to problems is something that the task force brought to Unicamp in a very solid way. We hope this continues after the Covid-19 crisis. It’s a really strong way of doing science.”
The task force coordinator also recalls some of the advances made this month:
- Development of tests of Covid-19 detection at the Institute of Biology (IB) and accreditation from the Pathology Laboratory to carry out tests at HC;
- Performance for testing national reagents when carrying out tests, managing to reduce dependence on imported inputs for diagnostics;
- Development of prototypes of equipment for sterilizing surfaces and PPE, the effectiveness of which is currently being tested in the laboratory at IB;
- Coordination of studies to analyze scenarios to understand how the disease is distributed in the region;
- Development of equipment necessary for HC, such as PPE and respirators, which are being created using 3D printers;
- Development of computer system for lung ventilators;
- Approval of research projects to combat Covid-19 with funding bodies