UConn Faculty Receive Federal Funding to Develop Self-Administered Microneedle COVID-19 Vaccine Technology
This story by Courtney Chandler, UConn Health, was originally posted on UConn Today August 26, 2020.
University of Connecticut faculty recently partnered with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop a single-use, self-administered microneedle vaccine technology for infectious diseases such as COVID-19, which can be quickly distributed at home in an epidemic or pandemic to provide effective, long-term protection.
Thanh Duc Nguyen, Assistant Professor in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering, and Associate Professor Steve Szczepanek in the Department of Pathobiology and Veterinary Science in the College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources received a $432,990 contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) BARDA to develop this technology. In addition to the funding from BARDA, the researchers received $160,000 from UConn to share the cost of the project.
“We hope to use this microneedle system to help patients avoid repeated visits to contagious hospitals in a pandemic like the COVID-19 crisis,” says Nguyen.
Read the complete story at UConn Today.
Photo: The microneedle patch developed by UConn researchers in collaboration with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Courtesy of Thanh Nguyen)