COVID-19 Scientific Interest Group

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This webpage below will be archived for reference. No new information has been added since July 2021.

The COVID-19 Scientific Interest Group was created in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This interest group aims to promote collaboration and facilitate the exchange of information and resources among NIH intramural scientists and their HHS colleagues concerning research on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2.

Jump below to the following sections on this page:

Dashboard of NIH Intramural COVID-19 Projects (NIH-only)

The COVID-19 Scientific Interest Group, in collaboration with the Trans-NIH Preclinical Working Group, created an NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) inventory and dashboard of COVID-19 projects. Currently, this dashboard can be accessed only by NIH leadership and the researchers who contributed information to it. NIH and other HHS-based researchers without direct access to this dashboard may find useful data on our spreadsheet IRP COVID-19 projects (last updated on August 24, 2020); note this requires access to the NIH network. If you have not submitted your COVID project for inclusion in the dashboard, you can fill out the form at IRP COVID-19 Projects. In summary:

Reagents (NIH-only)

The IRP COVID-19 Dashboard mentioned above also contains a list of reagents available to NIH researchers. NIH researchers without direct access to the dashboard may find relevant information in our spreadsheet of IRP COVID-19 reagents, also NIH-only (last updated on August 24, 2020). Distribution of any of the reagents is at the discretion of the principal investigator. If you have COVID-related reagents you are willing to make availab-le to other IRP PIs, please fill out the form for the NIH COVID-19 Reagent Registry. In summary:

Other Datasets, Repositories, and Scientific Resources

The following list privides links to resources to assist in your research on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. Please remember any work with potentially pathogen material including COVID-19 patient samples requires registration with the NIH IBC prior to any work being performed. These materials are registered as human blood and body fluids (COVID-19 Patient). Materials and recombinant experiments, if applicable, are registered through the PI Dashboard (oms.ors.nih.gov). Contact your IC assigned safety representative for additional help or the NIH Biological Safety Officer, Rick Baumann, at baumannrg@mail.nih.gov.

  • Addgene: Addgene is a global, nonprofit repository that was created to help scientists share plasmids. Addgene has several COVID-19 and coronavirus plasmids and resources available.
  • Animal Models for COVID-19: The animal model summaries and descriptions have been curated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) Preclinical Working Group with support from the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH). New and updated information, including detailed individual animal model pages, will be provided as more scientific studies are shared.
  • AWS COVID-19 Genome Sequence Dataset: A centralized sequence repository for all strains of novel corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) submitted to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Included are both the original sequences submitted by the principal investigator as well as SRA-processed sequences that require the SRA Toolkit for analysis.
  • BEI Resources Repository: BEI Resources was established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to provide reagents, tools and information for studying Category A, B, and C priority pathogens, emerging infectious disease agents, non-pathogenic microbes and other microbiological materials of relevance to the research community. BEI Resources is prioritizing and fast-tracking all SARS-CoV-2 registrations. For SARS-CoV-2 requests, BEI anticipates a 24–72-hour registration turn-around time.
  • COVID-19 Digital Pathology Repository: The COVID Digital Pathology Repository (COVID-DPR) is a resource to support the biomedical community as we confront the pandemic of the COVID-19 virus. The goal of the COVID-DPR is to make whole slide images (WSI) of COVID related pathology available as a resource to the community.
  • COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines: These treatment guidelines have been developed to inform clinicians how to care for patients with COVID-19. Because clinical information about the optimal management of COVID-19 is evolving quickly, these guidelines are updated frequently as published data and other authoritative information becomes available.
  • COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge (CORD-19): In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NIH, Allen Institute, and other leading research groups have prepared this resource of more than 128,000 scholarly articles, including over 59,000 with full text, about COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, and related coronaviruses.
  • CREx: CREx is the collaborative research exchange for the NIH IRP. It enables PIs to find innovative services and suppliers and place orders for services or products they require. CREx has pre-established supplier legal and finance agreements that cover confidentiality, IP protection, and purchasing terms to allow for purchase on demand.
  • Jax Labs: The K18ACE2 tg mice expressing human ACE2 as a multicopy transgene are becoming available from Jax Labs. Humanized ACE2 mouse strains in which the endogenous ACE2 gene is mutated at a single or at multiple residues to enable virus entry into cells are being generated. Investigators at NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Labs will be comparing the K18ACE2 and humanized ACE2 mice directly in terms of SARS-CoV-2 infection with the intent of making mice available to NIH researchers. Further information will be shared as available and when animals are closer to being ready for distribution by Jax.
  • iSearch COVID-19 portfolio: The iSearch COVID-19 portfolio is NIH’s comprehensive, expert-curated source for publications related to COVID-19. This COVID-19 Portfolio tool leverages the cutting-edge analytical capability of the iSearch platform, with its powerful search functionality and faceting, and includes articles from PubMed and pre-prints from medRxiv, SSRN, arXiv, bioRxiv, Research Square and ChemRxiv. The portfolio is updated daily with the latest available data.
  • NCBI SARS-CoV-2 Resources: Comprehensive access to the NLM’s literature, sequence, and clinical studies information
  • NCI DCEG Biorepository: The NCI’s Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics (DCEG) has established a repository for human-derived samples related to COVID-19 studies in the IRP within the existing DCEG biorepository, which already houses over 11 million tracked samples. You are invited to store such sample in this DCEG repository. They will be catalogued and tracked to assure proper storage and stewardship. The samples will be distributed according to the direction of the study’s PI. Please note that broad sharing through collaborations between IRP investigators and the extramural community (via appropriate MTAs) is expected in order to facilitate the rapid dissemination of science for the public good. Investigators with IRB-approved COVID projects that would like human biospecimen samples to be banked in the repository should contact Dr. Mandy Black in DCEG at blacka@mail.nih.gov. Unfortunately, live virus isolates and single samples cannot be stored at this time, but arrangements can be made to store samples that might be contaminated with virus. If extensive aliquoting is necessary when samples are requisitioned, there may be a fee for service depending on the amount of work involved. Otherwise, DCEG has agreed to cover the costs of this important service. A catalogue of the contents of the repository will be made available very soon.
  • NIAID’s COVID Resources for Researchers: Resources to support research and product development at each stage of the pipeline.
  • OpenData COVID-19: NCATS is generating a collection of datasets by screening a panel of SARS-CoV-2-related assays against all approved drugs. These datasets, as well as the assay protocols used to generate them, are being made immediately available to the scientific community on this site as these screens are completed
  • ViPR for structural and genomics data: The Influenza Research Database (IRD) and Virus Pathogen Resource (ViPR) are freely available, NIAID-funded resources that support the research of viral pathogens in the NIAID Category A-C Priority Pathogen lists and those causing re-emerging infectious diseases. IRD and ViPR integrate data from external sources (GenBank, UniProt, Immune Epitope Database, Protein Data Bank, etc.), direct submissions, and internal curation and analysis pipelines, and provide a suite of bioinformatics analysis and visualization tools to expedite virology research.

The COVID-19 SIG Lecture Series

“The Biomedical Research Response to COVID-19: A View from NIAID” (archived)
Hilary D. Marston, M.D., M.P.H.
Medical Officer, Policy Advisor for Global Health, NIAID
Wednesday, April 15, 2020

“Rapid COVID-19 Vaccine Development: An Example of the Prototype Pathogen Approach for Pandemic Preparedness” (archived)
Barney Graham, M.D., Ph.D.
Deputy Director, Vaccine Research Center, NIAID
Wednesday, April 22, 2020

“COVID-19 Diagnostics: The Challenge of Rapid, High-Volume Detection of SARS-CoV-2” (archived)
Karen Frank, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Center
Wednesday, April 29, 2020

“Animal Models for COVID-19: A Critical Component of the Response to the Pandemic” (archived)
Emmie de Wit, Ph.D.
Chief, Molecular Pathogenesis Unit, NIAID
Wednesday, May 6, 2020

“Clinical Trials in Public Health Emergencies: The Ebola and COVID Experiences“ (archived)
Lori Dodd, Ph.D.
Mathematical Statistician, Biostatistics Research Branch, NIAID
Wednesday, May 13, 2020

“Sailing Close to the Breeze: Hospital Epidemiology in the COVID-19 Pandemic” (archived, HHS-only)
Tara Palmore, M.D.
Hospital Epidemiologist, Clinical Center
Wednesday, May 20, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

“Structural Studies of Coronavirus Fusion Glycoproteins” (archived)
David Veesler, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, University of Washington
Wednesday, May 27, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

“Toward Understanding COVID-19 Infection, Transmission, and Pathogenesis at Single-Cell Resolution with the Human Cell Atlas” (archived)
Aviv Regev, Ph.D.
Director of the Klarman Cell Observatory and Cell Circuits Program at the Broad Institute
Wednesday, June 3, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

“COVID-19: The Australian Experience and a Perspective Through a SARS-1 Lens” (archived)
Kanta Subbarao, M.B.B.S.
Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza
Doherty Institute
Wednesday, June 17, 2020, at 4:00 p.m.

“A SARS-CoV-2 Protein Interaction Map Reveals Targets for Drug Repurposing” (archived)
Nevan Krogan, Ph.D.
Director, Quantitative Bioscience Institute (QBI)
University of California, San Francisco
Wednesday, June 24, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

“High Seroprevalence, Drastic Decline of Incidence and Low Infection Fatality Rate of SARS-CoV-2 Infections in Children and Adults in the Ski Resort Ischgl, Austria” (archvied)
Dorothee von Laer, M.D.
Director, Division of Virology
Innsbruck Medical University
Wednesday, July 1, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

“Lessons Learned: Management and Treatment during COVID-19 Pandemic” (archived)
Judith Aberg, M.D.
Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Wednesday, July 8, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

“Nucleic Acid Delivery Systems for RNA Therapy and Gene Editing” (archived)
Dan Anderson, Ph.D.
Professor, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, MIT
Wednesday, July 15, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

“COVID-19 Autopsy Findings: A Joint Effort Between NYU Winthrop Hospital and NCI—What Have We Learned So Far” (archived)
David Kleiner and Stefania Pittaluga, NCI CCR
Wednesday, July 22, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

“SARS CoV2 T Cell Responses in Exposed and Non-Exposed Subjects” (archived)
Alessandro Sette, La Jolla Institute for Immunology
Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at 3:00 p.m.

AUGUST–SEPTEMBER BREAK; SHIFT TO TWICE-MONTHLY LECTURES THURSDAYS AT NOON

“Neutralizing Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2” (archived)
Paul Bieniasz, Ph.D., The Rockefeller University
Thursday, October 1, 2020, at 12:00 p.m.

“SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccine Development Enabled by Prototype Pathogen Preparedness” (archived)
Kizzmekia Corbett, Ph.D., NIH NIAID
Thursday, October 15, 2020, at 12:00 p.m.

***
The NIH/FDA COVID-19 Research Symposium/Workshop is October 29–30, 2020

NIH COVID-19 Research Workshop: General Session - Day 1 (NIH-only)
NIH COVID-19 Research Workshop: Flash Talk Sessions - Day 1 (NIH-only)
NIH COVID-19 Research Workshop: Flash Talk Sessions - Day 2 (NIH-only)
NIH COVID-19 Research Workshop: General Session - Day 2 (NIH-only)
***

“Immune Profiling to Understand COVID-19 Pathogenesis” (archived)
John Wherry, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Thursday, November 5, 2020, at 12:00 p.m.

“Ethical Quandaries in the COVID-19 Pandemic” (archived)
Christine Grady, M.S.N., Ph.D., NIH CC
Thursday, November 19, 2020, at 12:00 p.m.

“Genetic Studies Illuminating Pathways Important for Controlling COVID Disease” (archived)
Helen Su, M.D., Ph.D., NIH NIAID
Thursday, December 3, 2020, at 12:00 p.m.

“Harnessing Synthetic Biology and Deep Learning to Address the COVID-19 Pandemic” (archived, HHS-only)
Jim Collins, Ph.D., MIT
Thursday, December 17, 2020, at 12:00 p.m.

“Antiviral and Anti-inflammatory Approaches to COVID-19” (archived)
John Beigel, M.D., NIAID
Thursday, January 7, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“COVID-19 Epidemiology and Transmission Dynamics: Contrasting South Africa, China and the US” (archived)
Cécile Viboud, Ph.D., NIH Fogarty International Center
Thursday, January 21, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“COVID-19: Developing a Vaccine During a Pandemic” (archived)
Dan Barouch, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
Thursday, February 4, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“The RECOVERY Trial: Science in a Crisis” (archived)
Peter Horby, Ph.D., University of Oxford
Thursday, February 18, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“Integrating Inflammation and Coagulation in COVID-19” (archived)
Yogen Kanthi, M.D., NHLBI Lasker Scholar
Thursday, March 4, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“Protective and Pathogenic B Cell Responses: COVID-19 and Autoimmunity” (archived)
Ignacio Sanz, M.D., Emory University School of Medicine
Thursday, March 18, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“SARS-CoV-2 and the VRC’s Structural Biology Section” (archived)
Peter Kwong, Ph.D., NIAID VRC
Thursday, April 1, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“The Mental Health Impact of the COVID Pandemic: A Major Life Stressor” (archived)
Naomi Simon, M.D., NYU Langone Health
Thursday, April 15, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“Health Disparities and SARS-CoV-2” (archived)
Akilah Jefferson, M.D., Arkansas Children’s Hospital
Thursday, May 6, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“Chasing SARS-CoV-2 Mutations Through Time and Space” (archived)
Sharon Peacock, Ph.D., University of Cambridge
Thursday, May 20, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“Outbreak Response in the Genomic and Information Age” (archived)
Pardis Sabeti, M.D., Ph.D., Broad Institute
Thursday, June 3, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

“Lessons Learned from COVID-19: A ‘Fireside Chat’ with Dr. Anthony Fauci” (archived)
Anthony Fauci, M.D., NIAID
Thursday, June 17, 2021, at 12:00 p.m.

E-mail List and MS Teams Site

COVID-19 SIG Leadership

The moderators for this group are: Mario Borgnia (NIEHS), Carson Chow (NIDDK), Michail Lionakis (NIAID), Vinay Pathak (NCI), Kaitlyn Sadtler (NIBIB), Pam Schwartzberg (NIAID), and Irini Sereti (NIAID). The NIH Office of Intramural Research representative is Charles Dearolf (dearolfc@mail.nih.gov).

COVID-19 Scientific Interest Group site

Scientific Focus Areas

This page was last updated on Thursday, August 12, 2021