The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated research and science in unprecedented and unexpected ways. Learn more about what goes听on behind the scenes at CU Boulder to help combat the negative impacts of this deadly virus and give the world听a path forward.
CU Boulder research
Engineering & Health
Disinfection of the built environment
Mark Hernandez is the S. J. Archuleta Professor of Civil Engineering, and his听expertise is in the characterization and control of bioaerosols and fomites in the built environment. He can speak about the detection, distribution and abundance of indoor microbes and their persistence in response to different cleaning practices.听He can also discuss the role of saliva and relative humidity on viral infectivity, and what Coloradans and people who live in dry climates can do to reduce their risk of getting sick from indoor spaces.听
Tend to get sick when the air is dry? New research helps explain why
Environmental engineering researchers study airborne coronavirus disinfection
Disease networks and evolutionary strategies
Daniel Larremore, assistant professor in the BioFrontiers Institute and Department of Computer Science, is available to discuss the theory behind how diseases spread in networks. He uses mathematical tools to understand how pathogens evolve to evade the human immune system, with a focus on malaria. His work also probes the theory behind the spread of information, disease or neural excitations, all of which grow as cascades in complex networks.听
CU Boulder mathematician earns nation鈥檚 highest early-career award for COVID research
Mathematician using Facebook data in the fight against COVID-19
Indoor air quality and infectious disease transmission
Shelly Miller, professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, can speak about how people can minimize their exposure to indoor air pollutants and COVID-19.听听
Simple safety measures reduce musical COVID-19 transmission;听Aerosol research instrumental in getting musicians back to playing safely
Ask an expert: Staying COVID-safe this coming holiday, winter season
Singing unmasked, indoors spreads COVID-19 through aerosols, new study confirms
Air quality, filtration and ventilation
Jose-Luis Jimenez, distinguished professor of chemistry and institute fellow at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences (CIRES), is a top 10 cited scientist on the subject of aerosols: the dominant route of transmission for the virus that causes COVID-19. He can speak about how this virus spreads in the air like smoke, the easy measures we can still take to reduce the risk of contracting the disease ourselves or giving it to others, and how carbon dioxide measurements indoors can serve as an indicator of how well ventilated or not a space is.听
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Society & Culture
Making social and policy decisions
Research by听Leaf Van Boven, professor of psychology and neuroscience, found that when people simply take a moment to reflect on the consequences of their behavior, they tend to choose options that impose fewer risks on other people. He can speak to the role of personal responsibility in mitigating the spread of sickness, as COVID-19 restrictions lift. He can also discuss the impact of political polarization of COVID-19 management policies on public support for policies to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Got the sniffles? Here鈥檚 how to make the right decision about holiday gatherings听
Anti-Asian discrimination and racial profiling
Jennifer Ho is a professor in the department of Ethnic Studies and the director of the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) at CU Boulder, and the president of the Association for Asian American Studies effective April 8, 2020. She can discuss the history of Asian discrimination in the U.S. and the causes and effects of racial profiling and anti-Asian racism related to COVID-19, as well as general history, culture听and literature associated with Asian Americans in the U.S.
Anti-Asian discrimination amid pandemic spurs Jennifer Ho to action
(Communication Matters: The NCA Podcast)
Anti-Asian discrimination, impacts on vulnerable populations
Sociology Professor , director of the Natural Hazards Center, can discuss ongoing anti-Asian discrimination and the social impact the epidemic could have longer-term on vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, and low-income families. Peek is the author of two books: Behind the Backlash: Muslim Americans after 911; and Children of Katrina, which documents the long-term impacts of Hurricane Katrina on children.
K-12 schools ill-prepared for natural disasters, warns CU professor
On coronavirus and the radical right
Benjamin Teitelbaum is an assistant professor of ethnomusicology and international affairs and a scholar of the radical right. He can discuss the role extremist groups are playing in protesting stay-at-home orders and exploiting the pandemic to recruit new members. He can also discuss how the coronavirus pandemic fits into the spiritual worldview of one ultraconservative ideology known as Traditionalism. Teitelbaum is the author of a new book about Traditionalism, War for Eternity: Inside Bannon鈥檚 Far-Right Circle of Global Power Brokers.听
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Business Impacts
Impacts on Colorado鈥檚 economy
Brian Lewandowski works in the Leeds Business Research Division (BRD). BRD collects some of the most comprehensive information on the Colorado economy through various regular reports and forecasts, including the Colorado Business Economic Outlook, the Leeds Business Confidence Index and Colorado Secretary of State鈥檚 Quarterly Indicators report.
Colorado economy adding new businesses more slowly, new report shows
Impacts on global supply chains
Gregg Macaluso is an instructor of supply chain management and faculty director of the Leeds School of Business Masters in supply chain management. He focuses on creating supply chains for Fortune 1000 companies across several industries. He can speak to the coronavirus鈥� impacts on global supply chains.
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Entrepreneurship, COVID and climate change
Jeffrey York is an associate professor of entrepreneurship and sustainability at the Leeds School of Business. He can explain how entrepreneurship can help solve some of the crises stemming from COVID-19. He can also talk about the similarities between solving COVID-19鈥檚 challenges and beating climate change.
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Legal Questions
On happiness during a pandemic
, professor of law, specializes in law, happiness and subjective well-being. He also teaches business law. Huang can speak to the emotional impact of the pandemic, as well as the impact of transparent leadership communications.
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COVID criminalization
, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Law School, can talk about legal responses to the pandemic, including the criminalization of COVID, the importance of nondiscrimination, and the law鈥檚 role in promoting public health. Skinner-Thompson draws on his expertise regarding HIV and the law. He has served as editor for 鈥�.鈥�
Mental Health Impacts
Supporting your mental health
Sona Dimidjian, a professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, can discuss strategies for supporting mental health. Dimidjian is director of the new Ren茅e听Crown Wellness Institute, with a research focus on wellness for women, children and families. Her work examines the clinical application of contemplative practices, including mindfulness meditation, and behavioral approaches in healthcare settings, as well as social emotional learning in schools.听
Crown gift to establish a unique wellness research institute at CU Boulder
On mental health for working parents, college students
June Gruber, an assistant professor of psychology, can discuss the mental health challenges facing working parents and college students amid the pandemic. Gruber specializes in the study of emotion, happiness and mood disorders and is currently conducting research on emotional wellness among undergraduate college students in Colorado.听
Mental health in a time of disaster
, can speak about mental health challenges鈥攑articularly for vulnerable groups including children, adults with pre-existing mental health issues and recent immigrants鈥攊n the time of disaster. She can also discuss how different groups interpret and comply with public health messaging. She is a research associate at the听听on the CU Boulder campus听and an assistant professor in the Public Health Preparedness and Disaster Response Certificate Program at the Colorado School of Public Health at the Anschutz Medical Campus.
Education & Remote Learning
Experts on K-12 school year amid pandemic
As K-12 schools across the country face tough decisions on how to reopen, continue remotely or offer hybrid models, education experts from CU Boulder听are available for media interviews on a variety of pandemic-era topics.
Historical Perspective
On the flu epidemic of 1918
Susan Kent, a professor in the Department of History, can discuss the origins, spread, impacts and global consequences of the influenza epidemic of 1918. Kent is an expert in British, European and global history and author of the book, 听(2012).