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| | Duke's Experts on COVID-19...
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70 Years of Excellence. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the National Science Foundation (NSF) this week, Duke's Office of Government relations posted a blog post highlighting how NSF has played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Duke researchers have received four NSF RAPID awards since March, which are providing funding for COVID-19 research projects that are urgently exploring outcomes. NSF also helped fund the creation of a threat detection and intelligence sharing network, STINGAR, which is assisting the university against cyber attacks during the pandemic.
"STINGAR has definitely contributed to our ability to protect systems involved in research related to COVID-19 from malicious hacks"
- John Board, Associate Chief Information Officer and Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
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Building a Better Contact Tracing App
In order to contain the COVID-19 crisis, we need to be able to better identify, test and isolate individuals who have been exposed to the virus. Duke professors David Schanzer, David Hoffman and Shane Stansbury authored an op-ed published on The Hill outlining the key considerations to take into account to achieve this goal. The primary challenge being how to develop a tool that provides results without sacrificing civil liberties and personal privacy.
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A Green Way Through. The coronavirus pandemic has had a destructive effect on the oil industry, but may give lawmakers a chance to do some productive, environmentally friendly long-term energy planning. On Wednesday, May 13, Duke University communications held a media briefing to address the pandemic's effect on energy and the environment. The event's panelists included Kate Konschnik, director of the Climate & Energy Program at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions; Brian Murray, director of the Duke University Energy Initiative; and Drew Swindell, a professor of earth science at Duke.
"The most important thing for policymakers and the public to realize is how much we don't yet understand... what we don't know is whether those trends will stick, whether they'll deepen or whether they'll reverse course." - Kate Konschnik
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Darity On Middle Class Disparities and the COVID-19 Pandemic
William A. Darity Jr., director of Duke's Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity, and professor led a research paper that finds when using 'wealth' as the defining criteria to demarcate class status, the middle class of black Americans is proportionately much smaller than the white middle class. The study, available here, argues that prior to the coronavirus spreading through America and disproportionately ravaging the black population, the playing field wasn't level.
"Even before the current pandemic exacerbated racial inequities, black Americans in the proverbial 'middle class' were far worse off than their nominal white peers."
- Sandy Darity
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Caring for Older Adults During COVID-19. Teah Bayless, DO, is an assistant professor of family medicine and community health and director of geriatrics at Duke Family Medicine Center, and recently participated in a Q&A to answer questions about how to best care for older adults during the coronavirus pandemic. She addressed that COVID-19 poses several challenges in caring for older adults, including more adverse outcomes from developing the virus. Bayless said, "For those of us who care for older adults, care for this population becomes not only about continued treatment of chronic illnesses, but also heightened identification of social isolation, food insecurity, elder neglect and support in the home."
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Fuqua's Manju Puri on Financial Relief for Small Businesses
On Wednesday, May 12, Duke Fuqua School of Business held a LinkedIn Live with professor of finance, Manju Puri. She addressed where federal financial relief for businesses is going and discussed strategies to get more funds to the businesses that need it most. Puri noted that in the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) the majority of loans went to the largest firms. She also stressed that it is not too late for small businesses to apply for relief loans.
"There is broad support that small businesses are important... we need to do whatever we can to sustain their survival." - Manju Puri
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COVID-19 and Migration to the Americas
Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy and Duke Center for International Development (DCID), Sarah Bermeo, joined Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, for a conversation about how COVID-19 is impacting migration in the Americas. The two discussed how migrants have historically played a key role in helping their societies cope with crisis, however international migration has slowed to a near halt due to the global pandemic.
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| | Updates From Duke During COVID-19...
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Celebrating Together, Separately. The Class of 2020 may not have all been sitting together on the field of Wallace Wade Stadium for their graduation on May 10, but they were still able to unite online to celebrate. This year, due to COVID-19, the Duke community put together "Marking the Moment," a day filled with virtual tours and speeches, including cameos from various celebrities including Duke alum and comedian Ken Jeong as well as "Every Time We Touch," singer Natalie Horler from the music group Cascada. President Vincent Price summed up the day by telling students, "Wherever you go as Duke alumni, you will always have as your companions, a community of extraordinary people. A Duke family now hundreds of thousands strong."
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Duke Researchers Slowly Return to Laboratories
Duke began a carefully controlled and phased restart of research laboratories this week starting with the Levine Science Research Center and the Chesterfield Building in Downtown Durham. "We're optimistic about next week," Vice President for Research Larry Carin said. Among the new principles and protocols to ensure safety: re-opened labs will be run on staggered shifts with lab sanitizing protocols between shifts; each lab will be required to maintain 15-foot spacing between workers; only one person per bay and nobody immediately in front or behind a worker's bench.
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Carolyn Barnes, assistant professor at the Duke Sanford School of Policy is virtually launching her first book, State of Empowerment, on Friday, May 22. Barnes' research focuses on child and family policy and her latest book investigates how government-funded after school programs targeted at low-income families can politically motivate and empower families. Be sure to listen in next week!
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