The federal government has awarded two research grants to Western University in an effort to combat the growing spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
As part of the Canadian response to the deadly virus, the Canadian government awarded a total of $26.7 million to 47 research teams across the country on Friday.
A project led by Western Faculty of Health Sciences professor Maxwell Smith is receiving a $283,656 grant to examine how the world’s response to the Ebola virus might serve as an ethics template during this health crisis.
“We’re all in this together. The more people worry that everyone is affected, or could be affected, the more we will see solidarity, to collaborate instead of to compete,” said Smith, who also has an ongoing ethics advisory role to the World Health Organization.
As well, Anita Kothari, a health sciences professor at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, is leading a project that is receiving a $129,600 government grant to develop an emergency response toolkit that public health agencies could use. The tool kit would be created to standardize social-media strategies, monitor misinformation and respond to concerns during an infectious outbreak or another public-health emergency.
“At the national level, there’s an opportunity to develop some co-ordinated guidelines about developing emergency resources,” said Kothari.
The other Canada-wide grants will help researchers examine prevention, treatment, drug development, transmission pathways, co-ordination and logistics, ethics and public-health response. The research is being funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canada Research Coordinating Committee through the New Frontiers in Research Fund, the International Development Research Centre, and Genome Canada.
