As COVID-19 has transformed our communities, nation, and world, IU researchers have worked to advance understanding of the virus, test vaccines, and develop protections while also keeping policymakers, industry and community leaders, journalists, and the public informed. Read on to learn about some of the remarkable research and collaborative partnerships created as part of our shared fight against COVID-19.
Fighting a pandemic with research and scholarship
Description of the video:
Music plays
Image of coronavirus moves on screen
Text A global pandemic is threatening lives.
Image of woman sitting inside on couch.
Text: Sowing fear.
Image of empty urban streets.
Text: And changing how we see the world.
Overhead image of empty urban streets.
Text: But even when the world stops …
Image of Sample Gates on the IU Bloomington campus
Text: Hoosier researchers keep going.
Music gets louder and faster
Image of woman donning a face mask.
Text: We’re fighting the virus head-on.
Image of person in orange hazmat suit approaching a hospital room.
Text: Collaborating with other experts in business, government and medicine.
Image of woman in PPE looking through microscope in medical facility.
Text: Creating a vaccine to protect children.
Image of man putting on special face mask
And developing COVID-killing masks.
Images of virus particles.
Headlines of stories about IU research drop on to the screen.
Text: Our public health experts are shaping critical response efforts …
Text: Responding to the racial inequity of COVID-19 and saving lives.
Image of rural green forested land
Text: And we’re partnering to track coronavirus across rural Indiana.
Image of woman in PPE administering COVID-19 test to person in car wearing mask.
Text: We launched the nation’s first statewide study to shape Indiana’s pandemic response.
Image of man and woman with microscope working in a lab.
Text: We rise to the challenge.
Text: As researchers and leading experts.
Overhead image of the IU Bloomington campus
Text: Because that’s what Hoosiers everywhere deserve.
Image of microscope
Text: We rise to the challenge
Overhead image of a clock tower on the IU Bloomington campus.
Text: Because we are Indiana’s university.
Screen fades to read, with IU logo and research.impact.iu.edu.
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Featured stories
Early COVID-19 vaccinations prevent nearly 140,000 U.S. deaths
A new study by IU and RAND Corp. researchers has assessed the impact of COVID-19 vaccination and found that 139,393 deaths were prevented during the first five months of vaccination efforts in the United States.
Read more about the COVID-19 vaccination study
Social, environmental factors increase community COVID-19 risk
IUPUI researchers and colleagues have identified social and environmental risk factors that may put communities at higher risk for COVID-19, highlighting the need to better understand how compounding factors can increase vulnerability to COVID-19.
Read more about the risk factors of COVID-19
Pursuing a COVID-19 vaccine for kids
Since the pandemic struck the United States more than a year ago, IU Bloomington virologist John Patton, graduate student Asha Philip, and others have been working on a COVID-19 vaccine for young children, based on a well-established vaccine for the common childhood illness rotavirus.
Read more about the COVID-19 vaccine for children
Gut microbes may be key in fighting viral infections, including COVID-19
In a recent National Geographic article, IU School of Medicine microbiologist Bill Sullivan considers how our gut's microbes may be drafted to help fight viral invaders.
Read more about gut microbes and viruses
Why some parents do not plan to vaccinate their children
More than a quarter of all U.S. parents say they do not intend to vaccinate their children against COVID-19, according to preliminary results from a study by Indiana University researchers.
Read more about the study on parents vaccinating their children
Combating COVID-19 misinformation
Brief exposure to an infographic about the scientific process may have the power to strengthen people's trust in science, including reducing the influence of COVID-19 misinformation.
Read more about combating COVID-19 misinformation
IU researchers discover link between meat production and zoonotic disease outbreaks in Asia
IU researchers found that intensive meat production may have contributed to a large increase in zoonotic outbreaks occurring in Asian countries, particularly flu pathogens.
Stronger social networks key to addressing mental health in young adults, research finds
Professor Brea Perry’s study compares people across the Midwest, providing a clearer picture of the composition of their social networks and why connectedness matters.
Misinformation, vaccine concerns contribute to low COVID-19 vaccination rate among children
A new report from sociologist Jessica Calarco reveals there are three key factors that influenced parents’ decisions not to mask or vaccinate their children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bivalent COVID-19 booster clinic coming to Bloomington campus
The Indiana Department of Health will host a free bivalent COVID-19 booster clinic at 800 N. Indiana Ave. from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 27 and 28.
Ask the Expert: The new bivalent COVID-19 booster
IU Chief Health Officer Aaron Carroll answers common questions about the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine booster.