A UNC group will distribute $29 million to 85 coronavirus research projects within the university system.

A release from the university on Wednesday said the N.C. Policy Collaboratory, an initiative based at UNC, has selected which projects to distribute the funding for as researchers work to develop treatment, community testing and prevention of COVID-19. The projects are all meant to provide new data and information to North Carolina lawmakers, policymakers and health officials to guide the state’s pandemic response.

The 85 particular projects are spread out across 14 UNC System campuses, according to Wednesday’s release. Some of the projects at UNC awarded with funding include the Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Discovery Initiative and work at the Institute of Marine Sciences. READDI, which is led by epidemiologist Dr. Ralph Baric, will receive $1.5 million to develop antiviral drugs to treat the coronavirus. The Institute of Marine Sciences will receive $1.8 million to measure COVID-19 pathogens in wastewater across North Carolina and study community dynamics of infection.

Among the universities awarded funding for projects are all six of the UNC System’s historically minority-serving institutions. Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, N.C. A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, UNC Pembroke and Winston-Salem State University received a combined $6 million in funding for a variety of COVID-19 activities, like research of antibodies and community testing.

“Each one of these 85 projects will have a direct impact on improving the health and safety of North Carolinians,” said Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz in UNC’s release. “We are grateful for the opportunity to continue serving our state as we face this pandemic. We are looking forward to working with our fellow System schools to find solutions and strategies for fighting COVID-19.”

The N.C. Policy Collaboratory was allocated the $29 million in May by the state’s General Assembly. The funding is part of the $1.5 billion distributed in the 2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act passed by lawmakers to help the state respond to the pandemic.

Jeffrey Warren, the research director of the N.C. Policy Collaboratory, said his group has worked diligently to choose a diverse set of strategic research projects from across the university system.

“The 85 projects chosen,” he wrote in the release, “are intended to provide critical data to our state over a short time frame to address both the economic and public health components of this pandemic within North Carolina and make a positive impact fighting COVID-19 in our state.”

The Collaboratory will be required to provide an update to the North Carolina General Assembly in September about the status of its research projects, according to UNC.

A full list of projects approved funding can be found on the N.C. Policy Collaboratory website.

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