ASU’s research enterprise and the community unite against a pandemic | A six-month review

ASU’s research enterprise and the community unite against a pandemic A six-month review

research.asu.edu

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Introduction

Table of contents 00 Introduction

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01 Filling the urgent need for testing

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02 A ddressing the state’s critical PPE shortage 14 03 Arming Arizona with powerful data

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04 Resources for remote resilience

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05 Helping Arizona’s economy thrive

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Teaming up to save lives At the end of 2019, a deadly virus about 100 nanometers in diameter — visible only with an electron microscope — slipped into human society like a thief in the night. It sneaks inside human cells, makes copies of itself and bursts out to infiltrate many more cells, spreading the infection person by person as it tears apart human society on a global scale.

Within a few months, the new coronavirus studded with protein spikes had made its way to every populated corner of the earth, leaving scientists and health officials scrambling to solve its mysteries and stop the spread of COVID-19.

Across Arizona State University, hundreds of researchers, faculty, staff and students mobilized at breakneck speed to apply their skills, tools and expertise to a singular goal: stopping the deadly coronavirus and helping humanity recover from its destruction.

Within six months of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S., ASU researchers have: Set up a

clinically approved and certified COVID-19 testing lab.

Stood up and operated sample collection sites throughout Arizona,

testing thousands

of participants

for active coronavirus each week.

Developed the

first saliva-based coronavirus test

in the western U.S.

Provided

critical supplies

to local hospitals and health care providers.

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Teams across the entire university sprang into action to meet the critical need for testing and tracking the virus. More than 80 key players meet at 8 a.m., seven days a week, to strategize and mobilize.

Let’s go save some lives.”

— ASU Biodesign Institute Executive Director Joshua LaBaer’s daily team meeting sign off

Provided key data to

track and predict the spread of the pandemic and its impact.

Made

free testing available to every ASU student, faculty and staff member.

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Filling the urgent need for testing

Testing is essential to help identify and isolate infected individuals. As Arizonans return to the workplace, schools and other daily activities, testing early and often provides a key way to prevent the spread of COVID-19. But labs have been unable to keep up with demand, plagued by shortages in the supply chain for testing kits and reagents. This meant limited availability of tests and long wait times for results. ASU researchers rose to the challenge.

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Rapid robotic testing

With unprecedented speed, ASU’s Biodesign Institute shifted its capabilities to create a clinically approved and certified COVID-19 testing lab in a mere two weeks.

The Biodesign Institute was poised to make the rapid shift as researchers pivoted automated diagnostic technology originally developed to detect radiation exposure to a new target: coronavirus genetic markers. The team’s high-throughput, robotic system has the ability to run thousands of samples a day, greatly increasing Arizona’s COVID-19 testing capabilities and providing results within about 48 hours.

Prior to the pandemic, the Biodesign Institute was purely a research facility that wasn’t designed to handle clinical work. The institute brought in a clinical pathologist and worked closely with the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation to make key clinical decisions and meet regulatory standards, all while operating under extremely unusual conditions — like taking samples from people in cars at drive-thru sites.

The Biodesign Institute at ASU is an invaluable partner in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We needed to move quickly to test our essential employees who are responsible for keeping the lights on and air conditioners running for our customers across the state of Arizona.

The Biodesign Institute collaborated with APS to set up qPCR testing at multiple sites within just a few days, and has continued to work with us to improve the process so that we can sustain an effective testing program and maintain a healthy workforce.”

— Pat Dinkel, vice president of strategy and risk, APS

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We realized early on that by developing partnerships with crucial community organizations, we could make a difference in fighting COVID-19 in Arizona. Working closely with our partners and ASU’s general counsel, the team rapidly increased our testing footprint with 40+ testing sites statewide. To date, we’ve surpassed 50,000 tests and results are typically available in 48 hours or less.”

— Tamara Deuser, chief operating officer, ASU Knowledge Enterprise

ASU has rapidly scaled up its testing capacity. In its first six months, the lab processed more than 50,000 tests. By early August, it was running over 12,000 tests per week with plans to continue expanding capacity.

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A $2 million donation in emergency grants from the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust vastly expanded the university’s efforts to coordinate responses to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

ASU receives $2M to boost coronavirus rapid research response

Now is the time for those who can — individuals and public- and private-sector organizations — to step in quickly and support our nonprofits. They are serving on the frontlines and are essential to our economic vitality.”

— Mary Jane Rynd, president and CEO of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust

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Arizona’s first saliva-based test

Making COVID-19 diagnostic testing easier and more readily available to Arizonans, researchers at the Biodesign Institute also developed the state’s first saliva-based test.

The new saliva-based test is a game-changer for several reasons. It is less invasive and uncomfortable for participants than nasopharyngeal (NP) swab tests. It is safer for testing staff, because NP swabs often cause participants to cough or sneeze. Because of this, testing staff need less PPE, which can be scarce. And it eliminates the need for scarce swab kits.

ASU develops state’s first saliva-based COVID-19 test

Serving the underserved

Initially, ASU partnered with local organizations to provide tests to essential workers and underserved populations. Over the summer, the university forged a new partnership with the Arizona Department of Health Services to provide free, public COVID-19 testing in high-need communities around the state. Through this partnership, ADHS has committed up to $12.7 million to fund the expansion of testing sites to serve up to 100,000 Arizonans.

ADHS, ASU announce partnership to increase COVID-19 testing in Arizona

This critical partnership will have an immediate impact in the fight against COVID-19 and help us surge testing where it’s needed most.

My thanks to Arizona State University for their continued partnership and for continuing to step up to aid public health in innovative and invaluable ways.”

— Arizona Governor Doug Ducey 11

I’d like to convey my sincere gratitude to the hundreds of volunteers who have demonstrated their commitment to ASU and to the community by volunteering in various capacities to help combat COVID-19. Volunteers stepped up wherever they were needed, doing everything from assembling test kits and constructing face masks to receiving and processing samples as part of our automation team. Each volunteer played a critical role in our efforts to mitigate the impact of the virus, and I thank them for their selfless contributions of time, talent and energy.”

— Neal Woodbury, interim executive vice president, chief science and technology officer, ASU Knowledge Enterprise

‘Spit on a chip’ device poised to speed test results

Reopening Arizona’s economy while managing the spread of COVID-19 demands rapid, safe, inexpensive testing for the state’s roughly 3.5 million workers. ASU scientists and engineers are working to meet that critical need by adapting a test originally designed to detect the Zika virus. This noninvasive point-of-care device would use saliva samples to detect COVID-19 infection and provide results in about 20 minutes.

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Safeguarding communities

Together with the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Mayo Clinic and Phoenix College, ASU researchers and students are contributing to an ambitious project to better understand the prevalence and spread of COVID-19 cases in the county. The Serosurvey project is deploying field teams to randomly selected households in Maricopa County and requesting blood samples to test for antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that our bodies produce in response to an infection. They can tell us who had COVID-19 in the past, even if they didn’t have symptoms.

The survey data can help inform robust public health policy going forward and safeguard the community.

ASU also created a COVID-19 Response Team which includes a Case Investigation Unit, Contact Tracing Unit and a Community Response Unit to improve the health of communities and generate positive social impact. The Case Investigations Unit set up a virtual call center staffed

by ASU students and volunteers to contact more than 100 confirmed COVID-19 patients daily, while the Community Response Team deployed to communities in need to help support safe home isolation.

ASU spreads the word about public testing

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Addressing the state’s critical PPE shortage

As if facing a pandemic wasn’t bad enough, a shortage of personal protective equipment threatened health care providers working hard to save lives — a call to action for ASU researchers.

The university created an online network that enlists community members with access to resources such as 3D printers and sewing machines to rapidly produce personal protective equipment. Months into the COVID-19 crisis, the ongoing shortage of PPE forced hospitals to rely on sterilizing and reusing equipment to shore up supplies. Researchers have developed a variety of options to make sterilization fast, effective and affordable.

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Protecting the protectors

Students in ASU’s Luminosity Lab devised a brilliant solution to address the state’s PPE shortage: enlisting community members with access to resources such as 3D printers and sewing equipment to mass produce face shields, medical gowns and nasal swabs for health care providers through the PPE Response Network. The network quickly partnered with a number of organizations — Banner Health, Equality Health, Dignity Health, HonorHealth and Arizona Academy of Family Physicians, among others — to get their equipment needs registered and underway. The team continues to expand its reach to connect with health care providers of all sizes, from small provider groups to larger health care systems.

ASU supplies health care providers with protective gear

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Harnessing UVC light to sanitize PPE

N95 masks — critical protective gear for health care providers — are designed for single use. But with Arizona hospitals going through 5,000 to 6,000 N95 masks per week, this essential PPE became a scarce resource. A research team at the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment created a device that delivers the perfect dosage of UVC light to kill the coronavirus in 5 to 10 minutes in order to sanitize personal protective equipment. Until the pandemic hit, the research team was focused on new ways to disinfect water, but quickly pivoted to answer the nation’s urgent call to develop new technology that can help sanitize medical equipment for reuse.

ASU team building ‘UV BBQ’ to sanitize masks

Making PPE safer and reusable

Another professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering tapped into decades of experience in microcontamination management. He built a lab in his own home to create systems for ozone reconditioning of N95 masks and other surgical gear, allowing health care workers to make their surgical and personal clothing safe and reuse hard-to-find items.

As part of an ASU working group collaborating with Banner Health’s innovation team, he is also examining the materials of general use masks to ensure they filter airborne particles as well as surgical masks that are in short supply. The results of his study will influence which materials will be recommended for use in masks made for hospital staff and visitors.

Students in the ASU Luminosity Lab also mobilized to address the personal protective equipment shortage by creating two low-cost, small scale sterilization systems. The first uses vaporized hydrogen peroxide and is intended to combat the N95 mask shortage. The second relies on ozone, and was designed to provide small businesses with a way to sterilize a variety of items, including clothing and reusable face masks.

ASU professor creates lab at home to support health care workers Low-cost sterilization units combat N95 shortage, help businesses 17

Slowing the spread, one stitch at a time

When a scientist and lab coordinator in the Biodesign Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology began working from home, she pulled out her sewing machine and set to work making cloth masks. In just 48 hours, she not only sewed masks for a local medical facility but also for several local first responders, totaling 50 masks in all. She also teamed up with an ASU chemistry professor to test her masks, finding that they did filter out the vast majority of virus-sized particles. In addition, medical facilities can sterilize and reuse the sustainable masks. To help citizens make their own masks, the scientist created a step-by-step YouTube tutorial.

Cloth masks a worthy line of defense to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic

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Arming Arizona with powerful data

Massive amounts of data — 2.5 quintillion bytes to be exact — are produced by robust information-gathering technologies each day.

ASU researchers mine this data to detect patterns it reveals, including information about the coronavirus and its rapid spread. They have developed models to track and predict key information, from the health impact of lifting social distancing measures to job losses in the state.

And they have launched an online clearinghouse for computer models to collaborate with scientists around the world.

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Connecting scientists around the globe to model the pandemic

Thousands of scientists worldwide have been working around the clock to develop computer models to better understand COVID-19 and its rapid spread. To fast track research and discovery, ASU launched the Network for Computational Modeling in Social and Ecological Sciences (CoMSES Net), an international clearinghouse for computer models where scientists can harness the power of collaboration at a critical time. CoMSES Net provides a digital platform for scientists to scrutinize and fine tune the assumptions and algorithms of models projecting the course of the pandemic in hopes of curbing its devastating spread.

Clearinghouse of computer models ready to play a key role in fight against coronavirus

The surprising link between coronavirus and climate

ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory, in partnership with Foreign Policy, convened a panel of leading global thinkers to discuss the surprising but powerful links among the coronavirus, climate change and inclusive governance. Speakers at the Global Lessons for a More Resilient Future virtual dialogue presented a diverse range of perspectives and insights.

One scientist warned that COVID-19 is not a black swan event, but a “fire drill� for climate change, demanding action to keep the planet habitable.

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Revealing how to avoid a worst-case scenario

Social distancing curbed the pandemic, but plunged the nation into recession. As a result, states began reopening their economies in May. But what would be the toll on human life? The answer came in a collaborative research study — from ASU, the University of Florida Gainesville, the University of New South Wales and Harvard Medical School — that showed early termination of strict social distancing measures could trigger a devastating second wave of COVID-19. The simulations accurately predicted that terminating strict social distancing by the end of April would result in a significant rebound of COVID-19 as early as July.

Another ASU research study, published in the Journal of Infectious Disease Modeling, revealed that if most people consistently wore masks in public (even homemade face coverings), the result would be a significant reduction in community transmissions of COVID-19 and decrease in peak hospitalizations and deaths. The research offers insight into how to reduce the spread of the virus while still functioning as a society.

Study: Nonpharmaceutical interventions can control or eliminate COVID-19 To mask or not to mask? Going out in public during the COVID-19 pandemic

Enahoro Iboi is one of the lead authors of the research study on social distancing and a graduate student in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences.

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Tracking the coronavirus in an unexpected place

As the elusive coronavirus slipped through communities undetected before triggering a dangerous outbreak, a clue to its whereabouts could be found in the least expected place — wastewater. ASU Biodesign researchers have long studied wastewater to track contaminants and health threats in various communities, an approach called wastewater-based epidemiology.

Phoenix, Tempe, Gilbert, Peoria and Guadalupe use this approach to track the coronavirus in wastewater and detect potential hotspots. The information allows communities to target resources — such as masks or information campaigns — where they are needed most.

Novel coronavirus detected, monitored in wastewater Tracking COVID: City of Tempe warning residents where potential hotspots are

Joining the race for a vaccine

To stop the deadly coronavirus in its tracks, ASU Biodesign Institute researchers began working around the clock in the race for a vaccine just a week after the first U.S. case of the new coronavirus was confirmed in Washington state. There are currently four in various stages of development: • • •

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Vaccinia virus: A SARS-CoV-2 vaccine using recombinant attenuated poxvirus vectors.

Human embryonic kidney cells: Mammalian-cell-produced virus-like particles could elicit a robust systemic and mucosal immune response.

Plants: Plant-produced chimeric Hepatitis B core-based virus-like particles and recombinant immune complexes (RIC) vaccines for SARS-CoV-2.

Myxoma virus: Vaccine based on myxoma virus expressing SARS-CoV-2 antigens.

Brenda Hogue, an ASU Biodesign Institute virologist, is considered one of the world’s leading experts in understanding the structure and behavior of coronavirus proteins.

Vanquishing viruses 24

Delivering data straight to your screen

The Biodesign Institute’s Clinical Testing Lab interactive dashboard keeps the community up-to-date on COVID-19 data. This dashboard informs public officials of hotspots, keeps the public informed about the virus’ trajectory in Arizona and is a key for state COVID-19 stats.

Google searches, media outlets and social community pages are top traffic sources pointing users to the site. Outbound clicks are up 660% — directing traffic to Arizona Department of Health Services and the Point and Click portal to sign up for statewide testing.

Visit ASU Biodesign Clinical Testing Lab dashboard

Building community resilience through interactive tools

From a dashboard that tracks key metrics on Arizona job loss and other economic indicators to a robust hospital resources mapping tool, ASU’s Knowledge Exchange for Resilience site provides facts at leaders’ fingertips. The site also offers an ondemand webinar on adaptive leadership, among other features.

COVID-19 response for community resilience

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New resource hub on COVID-19 tests worldwide

ASU’s Decision Theater teamed up with the ASU College of Health Solutions and the World Economic Forum to launch COVID-19 Testing Commons, a one-stop, reliable source for comprehensive information about COVID-19 tests worldwide on the COVID-19 Diagnostic Commons site.

The hub makes it possible for users to search all tests in the market and pipeline by multiple parameters, including test type, technology, regulatory status, country of origin and more.

COVID-19 Diagnostics Commons: A data-driven collaboration

With over 1,400 tests currently on the market or in the pipeline, businesses and public health administrators need the right tools to make the right purchase choices.

The COVID-19 Testing Commons is that tool to help decision-makers find the tests that most closely match their needs.”

— Dr. Jonathan “Jono” D. Quick, managing director for pandemic response, preparedness and prevention at The Rockefeller Foundation and author of “The End of Epidemics”

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Launching computational tools to arm scientists with answers

In the middle of the chaos and confusion a pandemic brings, information technology systems that maintain the flow of information are vital. ASU Knowledge Enterprise’s Research Technology Office rose to the occasion, supporting web, information technology and security demands for the many emerging COVID-19 projects universitywide. RTO rapidly deployed a number of websites, tools and applications to support university efforts, including the clinical system for participants to schedule COVID-19 testing and receive results. In addition, RTO coordinated a tri-university effort to leverage research supercomputing capabilities to perform complex protein modeling of COVID-19. Dozens of research faculty are now using the new RTO-created Arizona Secure Research Environment (ASRE) to model and study epidemiological trends throughout Arizona and the world.

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Resources for remote resilience

As strict social distancing guidelines left people feeling lonely and isolated, the university introduced tools to promote remote resilience and navigate the new normal. Through a variety of digital platforms, ASU experts are providing valuable resources for parents, educators, students, remote workers, health care professionals and older adults — from lunchtime mindfulness sessions to music therapy videos and more.

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ASU for You

The university provides a vast collection of online resources for education at all levels and ages onto a single platform called ASU for You. The site offers a wide array of content, much of it at no cost, for all learners — from elementary school students to adults — as well as resources for teachers and parents who are navigating teaching and learning at home.

ASU for You gathers resources for everyone so learning doesn’t stop

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The COVID-19 Resource Hub

The College of Health Solutions has curated a collection of resources for all ages and populations to work remotely, parent sensibly, learn productively and manage their health in a difficult time called the COVID-19 Resource Hub.

Online mindfulness and meditation activities

To help people cope with their anxiety as they deal with social distancing, quarantine and the risk of disease, ASU’s Center for Mindfulness, Compassion and Resilience moved activities of its mindfulness center online for a daily noontime session of virtual meditation and support.

ASU alumna helps others navigate uncertain times with mindfulness practice

An online mindfulness initiative called “Caring and Connection in the Time of COVID-19” features live, hourlong mindfulness and meditation sessions.

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COVID Resilience for Healthcare Professionals Facebook group

Launched by an Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation graduate student, this online forum provides a space where doctors, nurses and other essential health care personnel can compare notes, offer support and reduce stress. The group has thousands of members spanning the country and world who share their expertise on topics ranging from yoga and nightly prayers to holistic coaching.

Fighting burnout with Facebook

Online music therapy for the elderly

An ASU School of Music associate professor of music therapy and her students created videos for Valley senior centers and later used the Zoom platform to engage with adult clients suffering from traumatic brain injuries.

The videos are available on the Foundation for Senior Living website.

ASU students make sure the music therapy plays on for clients at home

Melita Belgrave, an associate professor of music therapy at ASU, led five students and two clients on a Zoom therapy session.

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Helping Arizona’s economy thrive

As Arizona experiences record-shattering job losses and contraction during the pandemic, the state faces pressing questions about its future economic rebound. Prior to the pandemic, Arizona had one of the strongest economies in the nation in terms of population growth and job creation. But the state rapidly went from one of the most thriving economies in the nation to double-digit unemployment.

ASU researchers are exploring the economic consequences of the pandemic and the impact of various policy responses. In addition, groups across the university are helping businesses of all sizes to adapt and thrive.

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Safely returning employees to the workplace

As businesses reopened or expanded from a skeletal crew, a pressing question remained: How to safely return employees to the workplace during the COVID-19 era? ASU’s College of Health Solutions and the World Economic Forum, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, provide the very latest information through the COVID-19 Diagnostics Commons.

The interactive hub for the global community gives access to up-to-date information about testing options and a place to share knowledge and practices for safely bringing back and keeping employees in the workplace.

Arizona State University and World Economic Forum, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation, announce COVID-19 Diagnostics Commons to help companies get back to work

ASU Corporate Engagement and Strategic Partnerships is helping businesses in reopening safely.

Learn more at corporate.asu.edu/reopen-business.

Knowledge is power, and the COVID-19 Diagnostics Commons is designed to give companies around the world the power to leverage data from their peers and bring their employees back to the workplace more safely and effectively. Our survey will gather information, and our educational events will enable discussion so that businesses can collaborate and learn from each other.”

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— Mara Aspinall, founder of Health Catalysts Group and professor of practice at ASU’s College of Health Solutions

Taking the pulse of Arizona’s economic health

As the nation suffered from the deepest and fastest recession in history amid the COVID-19 pandemic, ASU economic experts shed light on the state economy’s health. Bolstered by a strong economic foundation, Arizona ranked third in the nation in population growth and job growth, with a wage increase of 4.4% outpacing the national rate of 3% before the pandemic. Experts projected staggering job losses — 540,000 in the state and between 22 million and 27 million in the nation — but predicted that the unemployment spike was only temporary.

The experts saw glimmers of hope, especially in knowledge-based industries, biotech and high-tech manufacturing. The crisis could also create an opportunity for the Valley to rebrand itself as “the healthiest metro area” because of several factors, including an outdoor lifestyle, low density, low reliance on public transportation and low interest rates.

ASU experts see huge economic dropoff from pandemic, then rapid recovery

What most analysts see is a growth cycle of a strong third and fourth quarter, if there are advances in treatment and possibly a vaccine development for the virus.”

— Lee McPheters, research professor of economics in ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business, speaking at an annual economic forecast event held online by the Economic Club of Phoenix, a unit of W. P. Carey.

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Helping federal agencies pivot in a pandemic

When the spread of COVID-19 shifted from a looming threat to a full-blown pandemic in March, ASU’s Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency sprang into action. As a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence, CAOE helps some of the agencies charged with responding to the pandemic plan for and overcome anticipated — and unanticipated — challenges.

The center shifted the focus of an ongoing project to address expected supply chain challenges around medical equipment and vaccines. It also added two new projects to help the government and others forecast the economic consequences of the pandemic, and related policy responses, based on different scenarios.

Responding effectively to COVID-19 with federal agencies

The center has always focused on projects that directly contribute to the operational mission of the Department of Homeland Security. When DHS’s tactical priorities shift and they are faced with responding to a crisis, we adjust as well.”

— Ross Maciejewski, director of the Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency

Exposing COVID-19 phishing scams

The ASU Global Security Initiative’s Center for Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics tracked various aspects of the internet from January 2020 to May 2020 to understand how criminals use the COVID-19 pandemic to increase the effectiveness of phishing attacks designed to steal user credentials. The preliminary study found that overall phishing has increased, and attackers are leveraging COVID-19 to increase the effectiveness of their attacks. An example includes a phishing website camouflaged as a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID-19 donation webpage.

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Researchers from disciplines across ASU have submitted over $160 million worth of COVID-19-related funding proposals during the past six months. Proposed projects cover topics ranging from immigration and travel to economic issues to testing, among others.

Applying the entrepreneurial mindset to besieged businesses

Companies and industries of all sizes were battered by the upheaval brought about by the pandemic, with small businesses bearing the brunt of it. ASU Entrepreneurship + Innovation leveraged its considerable resources and network to aid small businesses during the economic shift. E+I’s efforts included providing mentors and subject matter experts to the Arizona Commerce Authority’s Small Business Assistance response, serving on the COVID-19 Small Business Task Force for the City of Peoria, and assisting the City of Phoenix’s Economic and Community Development team in sourcing contact information for thousands of registered businesses for direct outreach. E+I is also using a $50,000 grant from the Santander Consumer USA Foundation to support entrepreneurs in the mobile food entrepreneurship program, Prepped.

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research.asu.edu

ASU charter

ASU is a comprehensive public research university, measured not by whom it excludes, but by whom it includes and how they succeed; advancing research and discovery of public value; and assuming fundamental responsibility for the economic, social, cultural and overall health of the communities it serves.

40 Š 2020 ABOR. All rights reserved. 8/2020