Twenty University of Nebraska-Lincoln research teams have been selected for internal funding from the Office of Research and Economic Development’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant Program.

The grants, which total nearly $635,000, support short-term activities that respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The projects come from a wide range of disciplines, funding Husker researchers from 15 departments and schools and four centers and institutes, as well as collaborations with two other University of Nebraska campuses – the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska Omaha.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a wide range of problems, from the obvious medical and biology questions to issues in education, mental and social health, and health inequities,” said Bob Wilhelm, vice chancellor of research and economic development. “We’re proud to support Nebraska researchers from a variety of disciplines as they study and develop solutions to these problems.”

ORED led development of the rapid response program and is funding more than 50% of the total investment. Partners in funding include the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Education and Human Sciences, Engineering, Architecture and Law, in addition to the Agricultural Research Division and the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. UNO’s College of Information Science and Technology and UNMC’s Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health also contributed to one grant each.

The selected projects are:

• Jiri Adamec, biochemistry, and James Checco, chemistry: “Development of Point-of-Care Device for Quantification of Anti-SARS-CoV2 Immunoglobulins M and G.”

• Fadi Alsaleem, Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: “Wireless Thermometer Big Data Approach for Understanding Current COVID-19 Outbreak.”

• Trey Andrews, psychology and Institute for Ethnic Studies: “Delineating the Impact of Evolving COVID-19 Changes on General and COVID-specific Healthcare Utilization among High Risk Groups.”

• Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, civil and environmental engineering: “Using Wastewater to Track COVID in Nebraska Communities.”

• Rebecca Brock, psychology: “Family Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Identifying Sources of Resiliency and Risk.”

• Theresa Catalano, teaching, learning and teacher education: “The ‘Chinese Virus’: A Critical Discourse Analysis of U.S. Government Communication about COVID-19 and the Impact of the Communication on Chinese and Asian Americans in the U.S.”

• Allan Donsig, mathematics: “Communities of Practice in First Year Math Courses: Investigating the Transition to Remote Learning.”

• Jenna Finch, psychology: “Family Environments and Child Development during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

• Jody Kellas, communication studies: “Narrative Connection in the Face of Physical Distancing: Testing a Translational Storytelling Intervention for Parents and Military Personnel Coping with the Stresses of COVID-19.”

• Megan Kelley, nutrition and health sciences, and Xu Li, civil and environmental engineering: “Development of a Framework for Tailored Community Health Planning through COVID-19 Surveillance using Wastewater-Based Epidemiology.”

• Iason Konstantzos, Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: “Enhanced Imaging Frameworks Against Future Outbreaks of COVID-19.”

• Tim Nelson, psychology: “COVID in Context: Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on Mental and Physical Health Trajectories in a Longitudinal Sample of Adolescents.”

• Angela Palmer-Wackerly, communication studies, and Virginia Chaidez, nutrition and health sciences: “Systems-based Community Intervention Development: A Multilevel CBPR Approach to Enhancing Health Care Services and Communication in Meatpacking Communities.”

• Asit Pattnaik, veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences and Nebraska Center for Virology: “Protein Nanocage-Based Novel Vaccine Strategy for 2019-n-CoV/COVID-19.”

• Daniel Piatkowski, architecture: “Quantifying Social Isolation and Healthy Coping Strategies Using Fitness App Data.”

• Sue Sheridan, Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools: “The Effects of COVID-19 on Education in Nebraska and the Potential for Recovery.”

• Ryan Sullivan, law: “The Impact of Legal Representation for those Facing Eviction During the COVID-19 Health and Financial Crisis.”

• Julie Tippens, child, youth and family studies: “Mobilizing a Community of Practice for COVID-19 Social Support, Detection, and Disease Management among Immigrant and Refugee Populations in Lincoln, Nebraska.”

• Kara Viesca, teaching, learning and teacher education: “Inquiry and Productive Play as Curriculum Development Opportunities for Multilingual Students.”

• Shi-Hua Xiang, veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences and Nebraska Center for Virology: “Development of Mucosal Vaccine against New Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Infection and Transmission.”

COVID-19 Internal Funding Opportunities Office of Research and Economic Development