Rice’s COVID-19 research fund awards final grants

Third round backs research in , psychological and political effects, genetic tools, ventilator design, nursing needs and protocols for musicians. The Rice University COVID-19 Research Fund Oversight and Review Committee has awarded nine final grants to faculty working to mitigate the effects of the new coro rus. Researchers at Rice, some with collaborators at other institutions, will study , political, psychological and epidemiological aspects of COVID-19, as well as the development of genetic tools, a new ventilator design, a method to efficiently schedule nurses and distancing performance protocols for musicians at the Houston Symphony and elsewhere. The grants are part of the third and final round to be backed by the fund, which announced its first round on April 20 and second round on May 7. The committee is led by Marcia O'Malley, the Stanley C. Moore Professor of Mechanical Engineering and a professor of electrical and computer engineering and of computer science. O'Malley is a special adviser to the provost on educational and research initiatives for collaborative health. The winning proposals: Fred Oswald of Rice, Rodica Damian and Tingshu Liu of the University of Houston and Patrick Hill of Washington University plan to examine critical long-term effects of COVID-19 on human development following adversity across a range of contexts including occupational, educational, community, family, lifestyle, health and financial.