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MIDAS COVID-19 Urgent Grant Program

About

The MIDAS COVID-19 Urgent Grant Program is made possible through NIGMS supplemental funding to the MCC. The goal of the COVID-19 Urgent Grant Program is to rapidly provide funds to researchers in the MIDAS network to accelerate the development of models of COVID-19 spread and the impact of possible public health interventions. Two types of awards are funded: Supplemental funding and New Initiative funding.

 

This grant program would not be possible without the help from our reviewers. We would like to thank them for their participation in this process. 

New Initiative Funding

New Initiative funding provides MIDAS investigators with up to $100,000 for a new research project. The awards support projects that add new data or outcomes to COVID-19 modeling research, or that address gaps in the existing COVID-19 modeling landscape. Five projects were awarded on October 7, 2020.

Awards

Transmission and severity of SARS-CoV-2 in India

Principal Investigator:
Joseph Lewnard
University of California, Berkeley

Sero-epidemiological modeling for COVID-19 control

Principal Investigator:
Isabel Rodríguez-Barraquer
University of California, San Francisco

Model-informed vaccine prioritization strategies

Principal Investigator:
Daniel Larremore
University of Colorado Boulder

Design of cost-effective COVID-19 surveillance

Principal Investigator:
Jaline Gerardin
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Funding Panel

Reviewers on the New Initiatives Funding Panel first reviewed letters of intent. Each letter was thoroughly reviewed by three panelists. The first panel meeting discussed each letter and gave scores to each proposal which were averaged to determine the second round of applicants. During the second round, full proposals were reviewed and given scores based on thorough review of the proposals and a final discussion between all panelists.

Reviewers

Supplemental Funding for Ongoing Work

MIDAS members may request up to $10,000 in total funds to supplement ongoing COVID-19 research. No pre-existing grant funding needs to be in place for these awards. Supplemental funding may be requested to cover publication costs, equipment, student salaries, or other small-scale cost in support of ongoing COVID-19 modeling research. Two projects were awarded on September 15, and a further three projects were awarded on December 21, 2020. The final two projects were awarded on March 5, 2021. 

 

Funding Panel

Reviewers on the Supplemental Funding Panel reviewed applications and gave scores based on proposal significance; the investigators’ ability to carry out the study; the approach and methods; and the relevance for COVID-19. Studies were then discussed by the reviewers, where overall scores were determined by an anonymous poll. Subsequent rounds of Supplemental Funding applications were reviewed by the MIDAS Coordination Center. 

Awards

Test-based guideline to end isolation of patients
Principal Investigator:
Keisuke Ejima
Indiana University
Modelling University Responses to COVID-19
Principal Investigator:
Kyle Dahlin
University of Georgia
Improving school-based models via contact surveys
Principal Investigator:
Justin Remais
University of California, Berkeley
Data Mining & Transfer Learning for Modeling COVID
Principal Investigator:
Shi Chen
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Using climate & mobility data to model SARS-CoV-2
Principal Investigator:
Elizabeth Carlton
University of Colorado
Optimizing COVID-19 Awareness and Testing Strategy
Principal Investigator:
Asma Azizi
University of California Irvine
Agent-based modelling for COVID19 in South America
Principal Investigator:
Pilar Fernandez
Washington State University

Reviewers