How the Broad community is responding to COVID-19
Update June 12, 2023: COVID-19 is still with us, but the once-urgent need for PCR testing has subsided and can be addressed by other providers focused on diagnostics. So the Broad Institute is winding down its COVID-19 diagnostic testing program, with June 30, 2023 as the last day of operations. The Broad continues to conduct research and develop technologies to better understand, diagnose, and treat infectious diseases.
As the COVID-19 pandemic presents increasing public health challenges, scientists from around the world have responded with openness and unprecedented speed, studying the SARS-CoV-2 virus and working to develop new diagnostic technologies, treatments, and tools for researchers. Scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard are contributing to this global effort in a variety of ways.
Below you will find videos describing the Broad community's efforts to support clinical testing for COVID-19, expert seminars convened by the Broad’s Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program, and more.
Videos & seminars
Behind the scenes of Broad Institute COVID-19 test processing
July 15, 2020
Broad Institute has created a novel automation system for COVID-19 test processing that is scalable, modular, and high-throughput. We serve the public health needs of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and surrounding areas.
COVID-19: A Global Health Perspective
The Broad Global Health Initiative has launched a series of virtual talks focused on issues related to global health and COVID-19.
- COVID-19 in Mexico and the impact of pre-existing conditions.
- COVID-19 health disparities impacting Black communities in the Boston area
- Social, political, and public health factors fueling the COVID-19 crisis in South America
- Perspectives on the global health impact of COVID-19 and finding a "new normal" in South Korea and China
View more virtual talks from this series here.
Deb Hung discusses COVID-19 at a Broad town hall
May 20, 2020
Core institute member Deb Hung, who is also co-director of the Broad’s Infectious Disease and Microbiome program, recently updated the Broad community on what we know about the virus and the pandemic. Broad president and founding director Eric Lander gives a brief introduction.
What it will take to overcome COVID-19 and re-open the economy
April 24, 2020
Appearing on Amanpour & Company with Walter Isaacson, Broad Institute president and founding director Eric Lander discusses the importance of reducing the infection rate, strategies that'll be needed, and what we’re learning in Massachusetts to guide decisions around saving lives and re-opening the economy.
How the Broad Genomics Platform reinvented itself as a COVID-19 diagnostic testing center
Watch these videos to learn more about how the Genomics Platform transformed part of its next-generation sequencing center into a high-throughput COVID-19 test processing facility.
- The Broad Institute Is Scaling Up COVID-19 Diagnostic Test Capacity
- Broad Institute’s COVID-19 diagnostic center: Niall Lennon, Broad Institute
- Broad Institute’s COVID-19 diagnostic center: Stacey Gabriel, Broad Institute Genomics Platform
- SHERLOCK research protocol for COVID-19
- Broad Institute partners with City of Cambridge to pilot COVID-19 surveillance in nursing facilities
Infectious Disease & Microbiome Program seminar series: COVID-19
The Broad Infectious Disease and Microbiome Program is hosting a series of weekly seminars dedicated to sharing information and ideas about the COVID-19 pandemic with the Broad community and beyond.
View more virtual talks from this series here.
