Support Gladstone's COVID-19 research efforts. Help us end this pandemic.

The Gladstone building is currently equipped with two BSL-3 labs, both of which will require specific upgrades to meet COVID-19 research demands. Such facilities are of incalculable value. Whatever breakthroughs and discoveries will lead us to overcome the current crisis, they are likely to originate in a BSL-3 lab and to result from the collective effort of teams of scientists working together. Learn more about this project.

We are developing a CRISPR-based COVID-19 diagnostic assay as a viable alternative to conventional methods and a potential point-of-care test. The advantage of the assay is that it can be performed in a single step, is much faster than current PCR-based assays (under 30 min), and, when combined with the right read-out technology, can be deployed outside the lab.

We have mapped all the proteins the virus interacts with to hijack the human host cell’s machinery. These proteins serve as potential targets for drug therapies. We are testing existing drugs targeting these interaction points to find those that may block infection Learn more about this project. 

We are repurposing a world’s-first assay that was invented at Gladstone Institutes for research on HIV, to detect SARS-CoV-2 viral entry. Next, we will screen a carefully curated library of 12,000 existing FDA-approved and clinically safe drugs to identify any that effectively prevents the virus from entering host cells. We are also working to identify peptides that interfere with human proteins to prevent viral entry or fusion to host cells. Learn more about this project.

Gladstone is home to state-of-the-art models of human disease, called organoids, which mimic many features of the organs found in the body. Using cutting-edge technology, we are creating “lungs in a dish” from human induced pluripotent stem cells to discover how the SARS-CoV-2 virus damages lung tissue. Learn more about this project.

We are studying new ways to prevent COVID-19 induced heart damage, reduce mortality, and improve treatment outcomes. To examine how the virus interacts with the heart, we are deploying cutting-edge stem cell technology and using cardiac microtissues. Learn more about this project.

We are studying how immune responses in patients may help or hinder COVID-19 pathology. This includes determining correlations between immune system features and clinical outcomes, using natural immunity to inform vaccine development, and harnessing effective immunity for therapeutics. Learn more about this project.

We are investigating the idea that immune imbalance plays an important role in COVID-19. This imbalance is exacerbated in older individuals, making the virus especially difficult for an aged immune system to fight. We are working on an innovative strategy that uses treatment with pluripotent stem cells to correct this imbalance and combat the increased severity of disease in aged individuals.

Some COVID-19 patients show neurologic signs in addition to respiratory symptoms. Emerging studies suggest COVID-19 pathology results in part from an excessive response of the body’s immune system. This immune response also affects the brain, and we are working to understand how combined with the virus it contributes to brain pathology in COVID-19 patients.

Using breakthrough technology platforms, we aim to identify biomarkers, biological molecules that correlate with disease outcomes and can be used to predict the clinical course of COVID-19. We are deploying artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze the massive datasets generated by this project and define biomarkers that will help physicians design informed and well stratified care for COVID-19. Learn more about this research project.