Defeating COVID-19 requires unprecedented action and collaboration

Our scientists are up to the task.
SARS-CoV-2 specimen

COVID-19 Matching Gift Campaign

Every dollar will be matched, so a gift of any amount will help make a difference in the fight against COVID-19.

Dinah Ruch is accelerating our COVID-19 efforts with a generous matching gift that doubles all donations dollar for dollar up to $500,000.

Thank you to these wonderful donors that have joined us in the fight against COVID-19 

  • Christopher G. Ayson
  • Vivian and Jon Barfield
  • Susan and James Blair
  • Kathy and Ed Brown
  • Carol and Thomas Dillon
  • Nancy and James Eastman
  • Suzy Fitch
  • Marleigh and Alan Gleicher
  • Tammy and Lawrence Hershfield
  • Informed Prostate Cancer Support Group
  • Jean Wickersham and Donald Kearns
  • Robert O. Keck
  • Joseph Komsky
  • Valerie L. Manson
  • Wanda L. McCarty
  • Josie and James Myers
  • Sheri and Steven Spector
  • Amy and Jeff Szekeres

Donate Now

In these unprecedented times, Sanford Burnham Prebys scientists are fiercely pursuing research to minimize today’s impact of SARS-CoV-19 and prepare for the pandemics of tomorrow.

 


 

Solutions for TODAY

We are in urgent need of medications to treat COVID-19. 

Ze’ev Ronai, Ph.D.

Dr. Ronai is studying the interactions between the virus and proteins within our cells. The work is revealing human host cell proteins that may serve as drug targets. His team is also analyzing 18 small molecules that appear to stop the virus from hijacking our cell machinery to make copies of itself.

Alexey Terskikh, Ph.D.

Dr. Terskikh is leading a collaboration with UC San Diego and La Jolla Institute for Immunology to create drug combinations that inhibit the enzymes used to make viral proteins and restore the immune response to levels that inhibit the virus.

Carl Ware, Ph.D.

Severe COVID-19 is linked to an overwhelming inflammatory response—or “cytokine storm”—that can be fatal. Dr. Ware is studying how the virus weakens the immune system and identifying therapeutically active drugs to restore balance and help infected individuals recover.

Planning for TOMORROW

For future pandemics, we’re re-thinking strategy.

Sumit Chanda, Ph.D.

Dr. Chanda is working on broad spectrum antiviral drugs that can be used against a wide variety of respiratory viruses. The Department of Defense has already funded $10M to help provide the nation with safe, effective and innovative therapies

Pam Itkin-Ansari, Ph.D.

Dr. Itkin-Ansari is studying the biological reasons why people with diabetes have a higher risk of severe disease than others. The answers may lead to tailored preventions and treatments.

Evan Snyder, M.D, Ph.D.

Dr. Snyder is testing the effects of drug candidates in human lung “organoids” developed from human stem cells. The work will help us understand how the virus infects and reproduces in lung cells, and can help explain why some infected people fare worse than others. 

Conversations with our scientists

A discussion on the COVID-19 pandemic with Sumit Chanda, Ph.D.,  Evan Snyder, M.D., Ph.D., Anne Bang, Ph.D. and Carl Ware, Ph.D., lead scientists on the frontline of coronavirus research at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute.

The Chanda Lab is racing to screen 13,000 compounds—already tested in humans—to find a drug that can slow or stop SARS-CoV-2.

Meet Laura Riva, Ph.D. and Laura Martin-Sancho, Ph.D., two postdocs in the Chanda Lab, working around the clock to find a drug to treat COVID-19.

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