COVID-19 Research
Be Part of the Solution to COVID-19
Our scientists are finding ways to prevent, treat, and stop COVID-19.
Join us.
COVID-19 Research at Fred Hutch
Philanthropy makes it possible for science to move at the speed of the pandemic. We’ve learned an incredible amount about the novel coronavirus in a very short time, thanks to the generosity of donors from across the country.
With cases surging across the U.S. and around the world, we need vaccines to prevent infection and treatments that can stop COVID-19 before it becomes debilitating or deadly. Your support will play a vital role in bringing these desperately needed vaccines and treatments within reach.
- We’re leading massive, international vaccine trials as part of the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed, a monumental effort to test, develop, and distribute safe and effective coronavirus vaccines in record time.
- We opened the COVID-19 Clinical Research Center at Fred Hutch, a unique regional hub for observational studies and clinical trials for emerging treatments.
Together, these ambitious initiatives have the potential to turn the tide of the pandemic.
We’re raising $10 million for COVID-19 research, including $2 million in philanthropic funding for these bold projects. Your investment in our work, together with government and industry funding, will protect lives and transform the future.
Fuel Leading-Edge Research
Since the pandemic started, supporters like you have donated more than $7.2 million to the COVID-19 Research Fund at Fred Hutch, helping our scientists launch projects that are already delivering results. In addition to the vaccine trials and clinical research center, philanthropic support is fueling these high-priority projects:
- Discovering antibodies in people infected with the coronavirus to inform new therapeutics and vaccines. With donor support, a Fred Hutch team identified an extremely potent neutralizing antibody that stops the virus from infecting vulnerable cells and then mapped its structure to discover how it works.
- Following health care workers, first responders, and others at high risk for COVID-19 to gain detailed insight into how our bodies react from the earliest days of infection. Learn more about the Seattle COVID-19 Cohort Study.
- Studying our own workforce to understand prevalence of COVID-19 on our campus and prevent transmission. As our researchers returned to campus and ramped up their work, we modeled a safe path forward for other organizations and businesses.
- Reducing health inequities, including the pandemic's disproportionate effect on communities of color.
- Testing outside-the-box ideas through donor-funded pilot awards that allow scientists to generate the proof of concept they need to attract larger grants.
Philanthropic support from people like you allows us to move faster and explore the newest, most daring ideas. Donor dollars foster innovation early in the research process so we can build the evidence we need to secure government funding, foundation grants, and industry partnerships — and turn promising ideas into proven solutions that will halt the pandemic and save lives worldwide.
Thank you for your belief in the power of research.
Why Does Fred Hutch Study Viruses?
Our pioneering work in bone marrow transplantation revealed the urgent need to protect transplant patients from deadly infections, which launched our quest to gain an in-depth understanding of the immune system.
Today, we’re known for our expertise in virology and infectious disease. We are working in the laboratory, the clinic, and the cloud to find better ways to detect, prevent, and treat viruses and other infections to protect patients and communities. Working across disciplines, we are studying how HIV and other viruses evolve, learning how pathogens cause cancers, and developing and advancing treatments that harness patients’ own immune systems to fight disease. We track epidemics to guide public health officials’ strategies to contain outbreaks of diseases like Zika, Ebola, and now COVID-19. And we’re on the leading edge of developing vaccines to prevent HIV, with active research projects in Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, and more than 40 other countries.
Your gift to our COVID-19 Research Fund will have immediate and long-term impact. Please give today.
How Vaccines Are Developed
Fred Hutch is at the center of an unprecedented, global effort to develop, test, and deliver safe and effective vaccines against the virus. It's about saving lives, protecting our way of life, and making history. Here's how it will happen.
COVID-19 Research
Fred Hutch researchers are working together to stop this pandemic and prevent the next one — people like Dr. Julie McElrath, who is leading multiple research studies and operating a key laboratory for COVID-19 vaccine trials.