COVID-19 Pandemic

UC Irvine and COVID-19 

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, UC Irvine closely monitored the spread of the virus and associated communications from the county, state and federal authorities. UC Irvine Health infectious disease experts contributed to statewide and national efforts to track the outbreak and contain the virus. Experts maintained regular contact with the World Health Organization,  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and the Orange County Health Care Agency (HCA).

COVID-19 RESEARCH

Institute teams are dedicated to discovering solutions to real-world medical problems, including airway disorders, burns and wounds, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurologic injury and disease, oral health, skin disease, exercise medicine, vascular malformations and trauma and critical care. In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Institute researchers collaborated across disciplines to develop novel devices and treatments, such as:

• Dr. Chris Barty developed a low-cost UVC light source from Blu-ray players for disinfecting surfaces and air.
• Drs. Elliot Botvinick and Bernard Choi created a ventilator that repurposed a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine, allowing patients to control their own breathing with less lung trauma.
• Drs. Tom Milner, Brian Wong and Govind Rajan established the Bridge Ventilator Consortium (BVC) for individuals, universities and private enterprises to support the development, testing and translation of methods and devices for preventing, diagnosing and treating COVID-19 patients. Two bridge ventilators emerged from the BVC. Post-pandemic, the group focused on noninvasive ventilation, microwave inactivation, light-based therapies and other technology-based solutions to address COVID-related challenges.
• Drs. Tom Milner, Matt Brenner and Robert Brown developed an optical screening system for the rapid and low-cost detection of SARS-CoVII.
• Other researchers investigated long-term, light-based diagnostic, sterilization and treatments, including photo-active agents targeting COVID-19 and imaging for micro-clotting detection in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients.

These efforts highlight the Institute’s commitment to addressing real-world medical challenges, including those that arose during the COVID-19 crisis.