A COVID-19 Response Resource for the University of Toronto and Affiliated Institutions

From: Vivek Goel, Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives
Ted Sargent, Vice-President, International
Date: March 24, 2020
Re: A COVID-19 Response Resource for the University of Toronto and Affiliated Institutions

We are thrilled at the outpouring of offers from faculty members and others to offer research capacity, engineering expertise, materials, labs, access to infrastructure, in support of addressing the challenges posed by COVID19.

We write to provide this update on helpful points of contact for aggregating U of T’s contributions to this important effort:

Research: Prof. Christine Allen and Dr. Sean Caffrey 
Fabrication capabilities (such as 3D printers, machine shops, etc): Prof. Ted Sargent and Dr. Sean Caffrey
Industry collaboration – contributions of U of T expertise: Dr. Derek Newton and Dr. Illan Kramer
Supporting diagnostic testing Prof. Rita Kandal and Dr. Illan Kramer

Please email strat.initiatives@utoronto.ca and we will forward your messages to the appropriate leads and staff.

In order to share information to foster discovery and collaboration, we have also created an accessible online platform that includes basic information regarding U of T and affiliated institution research projects. Our aim is to allow our research community to learn about ongoing and planned research projects, connect to the vast amount of expertise at the U of T and affiliated institutes, and to help to establish interdisciplinary research collaborations. You can access the site here: https://utoronto.sharepoint.com/sites/TorontoCOVID19ResponseResource  . 

This site includes three lists that can be updated by the research community: 1) relevant research projects, 2) infrastructure and facilities, and 3) research expertise. The site also includes a link to a Microsoft Team to facilitate free-flowing conversations and discussion boards to allow users to post questions and make requests.