For every documented COVID-19 infection during the first six months of the pandemic last year, five cases slipped by undiagnosed — roughly 16.8 million — according to a federal study led by a University of Maryland, Baltimore County graduate. Source: Baltimore Sun

While the progress toward widespread COVID-19 vaccination is encouraging, testing, masking, social distancing, contact tracing and isolation will continue to play a key role in limiting outbreaks and keeping schools and businesses open. Source: BENCH press

The final RADx portfolio of products to be developed and scaled includes a diversity of diagnostics from companies such as Illumina, Quidel, Fluidigm, and Mesa Biotech, and is likely to result in a near-term manufacturing boom in rapid antigen tests and over-the-counter home-use diagnostics. Source: genomeweb.

The DOD, in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services, awarded $231.8 million to Ellume USA LLC to onshore production capacity of the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test for the United States. Read more at the Department of Defense website.

The Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC), a collaboration of leading medical imaging organizations funded by NIBIB, has launched a repository of imaging data to facilitate medical imaging research on COVID-19.

The National Institutes of Health has awarded three new contracts totaling $36.7 million for the development of new COVID-19 diagnostic testing technologies and production of specimen collection kits and swabs. The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative has advanced the scale-up of 25 testing projects since July 2020, which now include lab-based, point-of-care, and potential at-home formats.

Research into what is known as the gut-brain axis continues to reveal how the brain and gut influence each other’s health and well-being. Now researchers are endeavoring to learn more about gut-brain discourse using a model system built in a lab dish.

The FDA granted emergency use authorization today for an innovative COVID-19 viral antigen test developed with support from the NIH RADx Initiative.

Some two dozen companies are working on tests that let you sample and process results at home, including some that connect to your smartphone. But widespread use is still likely months away. Source: The Wall Street Journal.