Within months of COVID-19's discovery, UCSF Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) and a group of international scientists charted the first roadmap to possible future treatments based on existing medications. Now, QBI reveals secrets to its success - and what they tell us about preparing for future pandemics.
UCSF was a leader in the response to COVID-19, caring for some of California's first COVID-19 patients, setting up innovative testing and vaccination programs and offering care to vulnerable populations in California and beyond.
QBI combines fields like chemistry, biology and physics to understand what fuels disease at a genetic or cellular level. The institute uses this information to find new ways to diagnose and treat illnesses. In some cases, this means breathing new life into old drugs.
As other researchers focused on developing COVID-19 vaccines, QBI turned its attention to possible treatments using existing drugs to stop or slow the virus. To do this, QBI director Nevan Krogan, PhD, formed the QBI Coronavirus Research Group to study how the virus attacks cells. QBI Chief Operating Officer Jacqueline Fabius coordinated the group's work as it swelled to include more than 120 scientists around the world.
