A rendering of coronavirus, and the Tufts CTSI logo

Overview

COVID-19 is a devastating worldwide health challenge. Tufts CTSI is working hard to support COVID-19 clinical and translational research; foster collaboration and broadly-engaged team science; and engage stakeholders and the community in important discussions with researchers.

COVID-19 Research

Clinical Trials to Treat COVID-19

Tufts Medical Center and Tufts CTSI are testing two drugs to treat COVID-19:

  • Remdesivir, an anti-viral agent
  • Sarilumab, a monoclonal antibody

Read Tufts Medical Center’s April 2 press release for more information about these trials and the investigators who are leading them.

National COVID-19 Survivors Registry

Have you or someone you know recovered from COVID-19? Your help is urgently needed in nationwide research efforts to develop new treatments and provide help to other patients.

Please sign up for the National COVID-19 Survivors Registry to connect with research studies in your area or from around the country conducted by researchers at major academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and biopharmaceutical companies.

COVID-19 Research Tools

Tufts Medical Center Research Oversight Committee Review Rubric

Tufts CTSI developed a rubric to help facilitate the Tufts Medical Center (Tufts MC) Research Oversight Committee’s review of proposed projects. The purpose of this review is to identify COVID-19 projects that can move forward for grant submission or additional review. This is not intended as a full review of the scientific merit, operational feasibility, or clinical significance of the proposal, but rather for approval to proceed with the pathway to further developing and executing the project.

Download the rubric (Excel file).

Other institutions (for example, other Clinical and Translational Science Awards program hubs are welcome to adapt this rubric for their own use.

If you are a Tufts MC investigator and would like to submit a COVID-19 project for approval by the Research Oversight Committee, please refer to the guidance and instructions on the Tufts MC Intranet (login required).

COVID-19 Research Services

COVID-19 Clinical Trial Rapid Start-Up Program

The COVID-19 Clinical Trial Rapid Start-Up Program, provided by Tufts CTSI’s Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) Center, supports new COVID-19 research by offering quick project start-up for projects that have received institutional and IRB approval to proceed, but have not yet secured funding. The goal of this program is to allow projects to get up and running quickly by building the study database (i.e., the data collection tool) for the research team.

The COVID-19 Clinical Trial Rapid Start-Up Program will accept database development requests on a rolling basis between May 1 and July 31, 2020. 

Find out if your project is eligible, and how to request start-up assistance, by visiting the COVID-19 Clinical Trial Rapid Start-Up Program web page. 

COVID-19 Funding Opportunities

Federal/Non-Federal Grants

Do you have an idea for a COVID-19 research project? Tufts CTSI and Tufts University’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research curate a list of funding opportunities, updated weekly.

Please remember, if you are interested in applying for a grant, you must adhere to all home institutional PRIOR APPROVAL requirements regarding COVID-19 research as it applies to data requests, biorepository/samples, clinical trials, registries, etc.

Call for Proposals: COVID-19 Research Idea Development

Do you have an idea for a high-impact research project related to COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2?
Tufts CTSI seeks proposals for a special cycle of its Symposium Plus Program focused on translational research related to COVID-19. Symposium Plus is designed to take projects from the idea stage through to a competitive funding application. Read the announcement and the Request for Proposals here.

Tufts CTSI COVID-19 Pilot Studies Program

Tufts CTSI is funding two innovative, high-impact, translational science projects from the basic, clinical, and/or applied sciences to address the urgent need for research COVID-19:

CTRC Voucher Program

The Tufts CTSI Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) Voucher Program offers direct research support to unfunded or underfunded non-industry clinical studies and trials. The program accepts applications on a rolling basis and is currently prioritizing COVID-19 research projects.

CTRC Sample Processing During COVID-19

In response to the urgent need for sample processing (relating to, or pre-dating, COVID-19), the Tufts Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) Voucher Program offers a new, expedited process called CTRC Sample Processing During COVID-19 to support sample processing for federal and other non-profit studies on a case-by-case basis. Learn more and apply for assistance here.

Stakeholder & Community Engagement During COVID-19

Want to learn about the latest COVID-19 research happening in Massachusetts? The four federally-funded Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) institutions in Massachusetts (Tufts CTSI, BU-CTSI, Harvard Catalyst, and UMass CCTS) are offering a series of Community Forums on COVID-19 Research to talk about how they’re working together to protect us from COVID-19:

  • Thursday, April 23: Modeling the COVID Epidemic in Real Time by Joshua Cohen, PhD of Tufts
  • Thursday, April 30: RNA Therapeutics: Informational Drugs as a Pandemic Response Tool by Anastasia Khvorova, PhD of UMass
  • Monday, May 4: Getting to the Post-pandemic era: Herd Immunity, Social Distancing, and Vaccine by Yonatan Grad, MD, PhD of Harvard
  • Thursday, May 14: Building a Research Infrastructure for Equity in COVID-19 Treatment by Benjamin Linas, MD, MPH of Boston University
  • Thursday, July 2: Moving towards a Racially Just and Equitable Health Research Enterprise, a Tufts CTSI panel discussion
  • Tuesday, August 25: Non-contact (and Socially Distanced) Vital Signs and Medical Measurement by Brian Anthony, PhD, of MIT
  • Wednesday, October 28: Equitable Vaccine Distribution: Community Discussion of the National Academy of Medicine Framework, by Michael Curry of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers; Dr. Ana V. Diez Roux of Drexel University; Lissette Blondet of the Massachusetts Association of Community Health Workers; Dr. Sara King of Ummah Health; and Dr. Atyia Martin of the Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition.
  • Wednesday, November 18: Equitable Vaccine Distribution:  Community Discussion Part II, by John N. Rocchio, PharmD, Rph; Jennifer Lo, MD; Jackie Fantes, MD, FAAFP; and Cassandra Pierre, MD, MPH.