LMP's Slava Epelman and Clinton Robbins part of large U of T group receiving funding for COVID-19 research

Dr Clinton Robbins in Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology (LMP) and Dr Slava Epelman, cross-appointed with LMP and Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, are part of a large research group receiving funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) Exceptional Opportunities Fund.

Dr Epelman is leading a project involving Dr Robbins and other colleagues across the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, to help better characterize the inflammatory and cardiac effects of COVID-19.

The group have been awarded $950,000 for their work which will better position the scientific community to identify and develop vaccines, as well as therapies to address the detrimental health effects associated with COVID-19.

Dr Robbins commented, "The CFI is focused on strengthening our ability to perform Level 3 containment studies in novel animal models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Specifically, we will now be able to isolate tissues from infected animals and perform transcriptomics at the level of the single cell. This state-of-the-art technology will allow us to assess in unprecedented detail the immune response in COVID-19 disease and how these immune cells interact with their microenvironment."

Read the full story: U of T experts receive nearly $2.5 million for collaborative research on COVID-19 on U of T news.