Duke Health Fund Fuels COVID-19 Research
When COVID-19 arrived on American shores and exploded across the country within a matter of weeks, researchers across Duke hastened into action. Duke scientists in fields from microbiology and molecular genetics to pediatrics and surgery are racing to try to understand this exceptionally complex virus and develop approaches to defeat it.
At the same time, the swiftness and severity of the pandemic has strained many of the usual mechanisms by which biomedical research is funded. Acquiring dollars for research, personnel, and equipment from federal funding sources, industry, or even within institutions is often a laborious and time-consuming process, poorly suited to unforeseen and rapidly arising needs such as those presented by COVID-19.
Fortunately, Duke has been able to meet some pressing needs to carry on the fight thanks to the foresight of Duke Health leaders who established a special fund more than a decade ago and to the generosity of many dedicated donors who have supported it ever since.
