Norcross Announces Nearly $200K for COVID-19 Research at Rutgers–Camden

CHERRY HILL, NJ – U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) announced today that Rutgers University–Camden will receive $188,253 in federal funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a project titled “RAPID: Factors Contributing To Sequence Conservation in the SARS-CoV-2 Genome.” This research will investigate the biology of COVID-19 and its interactions with the human host to stem the spread of the disease and mitigate its devastating impacts on the global human population.

“To fight this disease, we must first understand it. The work being done at Rutgers–Camden will advance our knowledge of how the coronavirus infects patients and how the disease spreads – information we desperately need,” said Congressman Norcross. “COVID-19 has already taken the lives of far too many people, including many New Jerseyans. This funding will power the vital research being done right in our backyard to  help us combat the virus and save lives.”

This award will support Rutgers University–Camden research to find regions of active mutation and relative stability in the SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Different parts of the virus genome mutate at different rates and this can affect its potential resistance to anti-viral drugs and vaccines. This work will help unravel the mechanisms that drive variability and conservation in the SARS-CoV-2, which can be critical for diagnostics and treatment of COVID-19, as well as of possible next waves of coronavirus diseases, and allow us to prevent them in the future.

“Research innovation happens every day at Rutgers University–Camden, where our faculty and students generate original thinking and new ideas that advance our state and our nation,” said Phoebe A. Haddon, Chancellor, Rutgers University–Camden. “This grant from the National Science Foundation will allow Dr. Grigoriev to advance the type of cutting-edge biohealth research that is critical to our society. We thank and applaud Congressman Norcross for his commitment to growing South Jersey as a hub for innovation and for his support of Rutgers–Camden.”

“Three coronavirus outbreaks have occurred in the past 17 years and may occur again. These three viruses have differences in their RNA sequences but their genomes are organized in similar ways,” said Andrey Grigoriev, a professor of biology at Rutgers University–Camden and the Principal Investigator for the grant. “I am very pleased to receive the NSF support for this research, which may help us decide on our next moves against this pandemic and future events of this nature. Thinking ahead should be the rule of our decision-making today since we all may be paying a high price for it later.”

NSF supports research, innovation and discovery that provides the foundation for economic growth in this country.

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