Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan to fund nine-month COVID-19 research study

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan on Wednesday anunced that y will fund a nine-month research project to better understand prevalence of Coronavirus in Bay Area under ir Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI). couple has decided to give $13.6 million for research project.

research project will be a collaboration between UC San Francisco, Stanford University and Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a nprofit organization separate from CZI with a mission of curing, preventing or managing every disease on planet.

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In a press release Priscilla Chan, co-founder of CZI stated that in order to reopen society in Bay Area and keep  keep healthcare workers safe, we need to first understand epidemiology of this disease.

 “How much of our population is currently infected with COVID-19? How prevalent is asymptomatic spre? And how can we use this information to better understand who may still be at risk in future? re is shortcut to answering se questions — it will require testing, retesting, and sort of rigorous public health surveying this program is focused on in California", release furr said.

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project will consist of two long-term studies.

first will be a sample survey of a representative population in Bay Area with goal of figuring out how to keep transmission rates low as California re-opens without a vaccine. While scientists around world are working to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, even most optimistic estimates expect a vaccine in summer of 2021 at earliest. 

second study will focus on Bay Area healthcare workers to understand wher COVID-19 antibodies will protect individuals from reinfection, and if so, for how long. 

About Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Founded by Dr Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg in 2015, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) is a new kind of philanthropy that’s leveraging techlogy to help solve some of world’s toughest challenges from ericating disease to improving education, to reforming criminal justice system.

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