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MISSION
With an investment of $1 million from QuestCap Inc., the Sunnybrook Translational Research Group for Emerging Respiratory Viruses (SERV) was established to help combat the current COVID-19 pandemic. SERV operates through three crucial streams of research: vaccines and therapeutics, virus biology, and transmission prevention.
ABOUT
Sunnybrook has been at the global forefront of the clinical and research response to the pandemic since the first Canadian case of COVID-19 was identified in January 2020. Major proponents of Sunnybrook’s research response efforts have been led by SERV co-founders, Dr. Samira Mubareka and Dr. Robert Kozak, as well as a team of close collaborators. The work of SERV has had global implications, leading to the implementation of a hospital-based COVID-19 test. Most notably, on March 10, 2020, their team isolated the agent responsible for the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19. The isolated virus is now being used to develop improved diagnostic testing, treatments and vaccines, and to gain a better understanding of the virus’s biology, evolution, and clinical shedding.
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RESEARCH
SERV operates through three main streams of research: virus biology (genomics), vaccines and therapeutics, and transmission and prevention. Many of SERV’s research projects are integrative and touch on more than one of these streams. This allows SERV to develop a holistic understanding of emerging and respiratory viruses. Click the “learn more” button to find out about the importance of each of the three main streams and see what projects the SERV team is working on.
VIRUS BIOLOGY
VACCINES AND THERAPEUTICS
TRANSMISSION AND PREVENTION
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