CDC Launches National Viral Genomics Consortium to Better Map SARS-CoV-2 Transmission

NLM Expands Access to Coronavirus Literature

The National Library of Medicine is collaborating with publishers and scholarly societies to increase the number of coronavirus-related journal articles in PubMed Central, along with available supporting data. The articles will be in machine-readable formats that will allow artificial intelligence researchers to develop text-mining approaches to address questions about coronavirus.

CDC Launches National Viral Genomics Consortium to Better Map SARS-CoV-2 Transmission

CDC on May 1 announced the launch of the SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing for Public Health Emergency Response, Epidemiology, and Surveillance (SPHERES) consortium, which will greatly expand the use of whole genome sequencing of the COVID-19 virus. SPHERES will provide consistent, real-time sequence data to the public health response teams investigating cases and clusters of COVID-19 across the country. It will help them better understand how the virus is spreading, both nationally and in their local communities.

Research Survey to Examine Impact of COVID-19 on Rare Diseases Community

The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network, led by NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, in collaboration with nine other NIH institutes and centers including NIDCR, launched a new online survey that aims to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic affects individuals with rare diseases, their families, and their caregivers. Results will help the rare disease research community shed light on the needs of people with rare diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic and other potential health crises, in addition to informing future research efforts.