COVID-19 Response Projects and Proposals

We’re seeing an upwelling of ideas, from all corners of our community and beyond, for quick and agile responses to the COVID-19 crisis—from sourcing more protective gear, to producing medical devices and testing kits—to help healthcare workers responding to the growing avalanche of COVID-19 cases.

We are keeping a running list of projects and proposals from our fellows and close network, which we will update regularly (most recent update reflected in date of post). If you see something that you’d like to work on or learn more about, please contact info@activate.org. Thank you.

PROPOSALS AND IDEAS FROM FELLOWS
Here are some of the ways fellows from our community, leading with their innate focus on innovation and problem-solving, are responding to the crisis.

Printing Ventilator Parts
Offering: polySpectra wants to help meet the critical need for medical device components, such ventilator pumps, by producing and qualifying parts as it seeks manufacturing partnerships.

  • Who: polySpectra makes functional materials for advanced additive manufacturing (3D printing) 

  • Why: Healthcare facilities are in urgent need of bolstering ventilator inventories as they respond to an influx of COVID-19 patients

  • How: polySpectra is seeking connections with the medical device designers and engineers and manufacturers, while researching the device components that are most in need and can be produced through 3D printing. (More details here.)

  • Contact: Raymond Weitekamp raw@polyspectra.com

Note: polySpectra has also compiled this list of projects related to 3D printing and COVID-19 responses.


Protecting Healthcare Workers
Offering: Hand sanitizer that is strong enough to protect users (>60% ethanol) while also protecting and moisturizing the skin with each use.

  • Who: Visolis, founded by Cohort One fellow Deepak Dugar, is pioneering the use of synthetic biology to develop carbon-negative materials that move manufacturing away from petroleum-based feedstocks.

  • Why: Since the company has been focused on skincare ingredients, it was a natural shift to develop hand sanitizer in this time of great need.

  • How: Visolis has launched a crowdfunding campaign to offset the costs of raw materials, manufacturing, and packaging. All donations go towards producing hand sanitizer to be donated to hospitals, clinics, and other organizations with acute need. Please support and/or share the campaign.

Powering Discoveries with Proteins
Offering: Help to scientists working on responses to COVID-19 by producing hundreds of protein variants (eg. antigens, targets, diagnostic enzymes, computationally designed proteins) for their research.

  • Who: Tierra Biosciences, a DARPA-funded startup, produces proteins on demand from digital sequence to testable quantities with 2-week turnaround.

  • Why: Scientists need to work as efficiently as possible to identify effective and safe pathways to treating people with COVID-19.

  • How: Seeking potential partners or conveners

  • Contact: Zachary Sun zach@tierrabiosciences.com

Proteases for Efficient Testing
Proposed Project: CinderBio has developed novel proteases that offer unique capabilities for proteomic identification of viral or other pathogenic agents. The founders envision a rapid serological test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 or other pathogens using their unique enzyme technologies to quickly digest blood samples prior to using mass spectrometry-based detection.

  • Who: CinderBio, a startup that makes a new class of ultra-stable enzymes for laboratory & industrial applications

  • Why: CinderBio’s acid- and heat-stable proteases could facilitate rapid detection of pathogens by enabling faster sample preparation compared to processes employed today. Patient samples could be stored and processed in acidic conditions which would inactivate pathogens, reducing risk to responders, shippers, and laboratory personnel.

  • How: Seeking potential partners or conveners that could help us connect with appropriate opportunities.

  • Contact: info@cinderbio.com

Microfabrication Capabilities 
Offering: Microfabrication capabilities specific to MEMS and microfluidics

  • Who: InchFab, a startup democratizing a micro- and nanofabrication system

  • Why: Potential production of microchip components required for COVID-19 sequencing-based detection solutions

  • How: Seeking potential partners or conveners that could connect with appropriate partners

  • Contact: Mitchell Hsing mhsing@inchfab.com

Cut Down COVID-19 with Copper 
Copper has long been leveraged for its antiviral properties, and alumni fellow Colin Bailie says copper tape is a cheap, handy tool we can all use for passively fighting the pandemic. Learn more here.

Defy Isolation
Alumni fellow Jess Morrison is on the advisory board for the Northern California Chapter of Defy Ventures, which is on a mission to cut recidivism in half by leveraging entrepreneurship to increase economic opportunities for incarcerated individuals—a population especially vulnerable to COVID-19. Defy’s in-person program—which reaches 3,798 entrepreneurs-in-training across the country—is temporarily shuttered. To encourage and help these prisoners feel less isolated, you can send video greetings (10-15 seconds) or letters (in Word documents) dejuan@defyventures.org and carmen@defyventures.org.

Projects from Our Wider Community
We've always relied on and greatly valued the support of our key sponsors and partners, but in a time of crisis, their council and advice is even more important. We're learning about COVID-response initiatives from our partners at Schmidt Futures, Moore Foundation, DARPA, the Dept. of Energy, and Berkeley Lab and we'll continue to update this list.

Added June 9th:

  • Aunt Bertha, a network for health and human services providers, manages FindHelp.org, a nationwide resource collection with COVID-19 programs being added and updated constantly, searchable by Zip Code.

  • The Last Mile Education Fund, which supports technology and computer science students (mostly women) has compiled a repository of hundreds of resumes of people looking for internships. Some may be well-suited to COVID-19 related research.  

Added April 16th:

  • The Interstate Disaster Medical Collaborative seeks support in funding, certifying, and distributing its portable 3D-printed ventilator.

  • Recidiviz, a nonprofit building a platform designed to power data-driven interventions in criminal justice, launched a modeling tool to help prison and jail administrators predict when cases will peak and how to allocate resources. It seeks engineering or data science contractors or volunteers to contribute.

  • The Frontline Impact Project serves health care institutions and first response organizations in need by pairing them with donors that want to help but are unsure where to direct resources.

Added April 10th:

  • The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee wants your ideas for both near-term quick response and longer term economic stimulus package(s) that address and mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. Provide information here, but not April 13th deadline.

  • Carnegie Mellon professor and entrepreneur Po-Shen Loh is looking to fund and scale an app called NOVID which can anonymously and reliably trace exposure to COVID-19. Here is beta and test site.

Added April 7th:

  • Paper manufacturer Folia Materials is quickly ramping up anti-viral mask production and has a number of needs ranging from funding to partnerships and supplies. Here’s their list.

Added April 2nd:

  • Our friends at Incite.org have launched Frontline Support, a nonprofit initiative led by an all-volunteer team of 10+ former State Dept-China officials, Apple/Nest folks with experience in China-US procurement, and philanthropists. FS acts as a procurement specialist and intermediary to find, purchase, and bring supplies into the US quickly. Learn more here.

  • Our friends at Schmidt Futures are supporting the Open Source Medical Supplies Project, which has manufactured over 700,000 open source medical supplies. over 450 people, including engineers, medical professionals, writers, and moderators. The Facebook group has gone from 1 to over 60,000 members, including engineers, medical professionals, writers, and moderators, in 18 days.

Added March 30th:

  • U.S. Digital Response is looking to provide federal, state, and local government agencies that need data, digital, or operational help in responding to the pandemic. It seeks volunteers with experience in healthcare, data, engineering & product development, general management, operations, or supply chain/procurement.

Original list:

Got PPE?
Donate Today is a clearinghouse for connecting with hospitals in your area that are in need of personal protective equipment (PPE).

COVID-19 Open Innovation Index + CovidX
Luminary Labs has a deep (60+) index of response projects spanning academia and private industry and including hardware and software. And this larger effort: CovidX.

Medical Countermeasures
The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has created open submission portal for funding < $749k (30-day turnaround) for development of medical countermeasures. 


Innovative Genomics Institute

The IGI uses this website to list its current needs (such as for reagents and equipment) and research projects.



Biomedical Response

COVID-19 Response is a task force of biomedical folks and academics looking to elicit ideas. 

Skills Share
Help with COVID is a database of projects sortable by needed skills and project type.

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