SIGN UP FOR BREAKING NEWS Get local stories sent straight to your inbox as news breaks. Submit Privacy Notice

UNMC: Models suggest COVID-19 cases in U.S. may peak between April and June Nebraska Medicine and UNMC have pandemic preparedness task force that meets weekly Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Hide Transcript Show Transcript

WAVERLE? WAVERLE: ROB AND JULIE, THE BIO-INFORMATICS LAB AT THE PETER KIEWIT INSTITUTE ISN’T THE TYPE OF LAB YOU AND I MAY PICTURE. NO WHITE COATS, NO PETRI DISHES, BUT IT’S THE BEHIND THE SCENES RESEARCH TAKING THE BURDEN OFF PHYSICIANS ON THE FRONT LINES AS THEY WORK TO FIND A VACCINE FOR COVID-19. >> THE GOAL IS TO CLOSE DOWN THE OUTBREAK, TO CONTAIN IT, TO BE DONE WITH IT AND LEARN. WAVERLE: KATE COOPER AND A TEAM OF STAFF AND STUDENTS IN THE BIO-INFORMATICS LAB GATHER DATA FROM PUBLIC RESOURCES AND PARTNERS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CORONAVIRUS COVID-19 GENOME. >> IT’S ALMOST LIKE READING THE BOOK OF THE VIRUS. >> ALL THE SEQUENCES THAT HAVE BEEN GENERATED FROM CORONAVIRUS SAMPLES FROM PATIENTS HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED HERE, THE GENOMICS SEQUENCES. WAVERLE: IT’S CALLED A GENE BANK. COOPER SAYS THE SPEED AT WHICH COUNTRIES ARE SHARING DATA ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS IS UNPRECEDENTED. >> THE SCIENTISTS IN CHINA AT THE CHINESE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL HAVE BEEN WORKING VERY HARD TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY AT LARGE SO THAT WE CAN ANALYZE THIS DATA. WAVERLE: AS RESEARCHERS RACE THE CLOCK, THEY’RE ALREADY FINDING A SILVER LINING. >> IT IS NOT MUTATING, WHICH IS GOOD NEWS FOR US AS WE TRY TO DEVELOP VACCINES. WAVERL THIS RESEARCH IS LIKE THE AWARD-WINNING WORK THE TEAM DID FOR THE CHIKUNGUNYA VIRUS IN 2015. COOPER SAYS THEY WERE ABLE TO PINPOINT THE EXACT WEEK THE VIRUS HIT PEAK OUTBREAK. >> PUBLIC HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURES OF THOSE COUNTRIES COULD USE THAT INFORMATION TO IDENTIFY WHO NEEDED THE MOST RESOURCES, DO WE NEED TO BE SHARING RESOURCES, WHEN IS THE WORST GOING TO COME, AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO PREPARE FOR THAT. WAVERLE: AND THAT’S WHAT THEY HOPE TO DO THIS TIME WITH CORONAVIRUS, HELP COMMUNITIES BE PREPARED BEFORE AN OUTBREAK HAPPENS. >> WE CAN DO THE HEAVY LIFTING. WE CAN DO THE PROGRAMMING. WE CAN DO THAT DATA ANALYSIS AND STORAGE AND HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING. THAT’S REALLY OUR WHEELHOUSE. WAVERLE: COOPER SAYS THEY MAY START RUNNING THE NUMBERS AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK ONCE THEY LEARN MORE FROM CALIFORNIA. A PATIENT THERE HAS THE VIRUS, BUT UNLIKE THE NATION’S OTHER CASES, HEALTH OFFICIALS HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THAT PERSON BEC