Newly funded: Exploring new treatments for COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, ignites an immune response to infection, which results in severe lung inflammation. A team of researchers led by Maxim Cheeran, BVSc & AH (DVM) MVSc, PhD, and Walter Low, PhD, in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical School, are working to develop a unique stem cell therapy to mitigate this particularly life-threatening symptom of the disease. The team will model COVID-19 in animals with hopes of establishing effective methods for human treatment. The scientists involved have previously successfully modeled this approach in animals with brain inflammation from a stroke, which led to human clinical trials. The project began in late March and the first experiments are slated to be completed in May to determine if their stem cell treatment can inhibit lung inflammation.