COVID-19 pandemic motivates physical scientists and engineers to create global solutions

An international team of researchers is urging physical scientists and engineers to join the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic, and contribute toward long-term creation of knowledge and technologies for infectious respiratory diseases in general. Led by Northwestern University's Jiaxing Huang, the team has authored a perspective article published yesterday in the journal ACS Nano. Public health and healthcare workers are at the frontline to contain and mitigate the spread of this disease, the researchers write. Although intervening biological and immunological responses against viral infection may seem far from physical sciences and engineering that typically work with inanimate objects, there actually is much that can-and should-be done to help in a global crisis like this. Huang's early anxiety about the initial coronavirus outbreak inspired him to lead the call to action. Feeling confused and powerless, he coped by studying textbooks and medical literature about respiratory viruses.