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CU • News & Events

Clarkson Biology Professors Set to Study Global Connectivity Patterns in the COVID-19 Genome

Release Date
Monday June 1, 2020
COVID-19 Genome

Clarkson University Assistant Professors Andrew David and Susan Bailey were recently awarded an institutional grant to study the COVID-19 genome from various countries with the goal of unraveling their connectivity patterns. 

With the help of undergraduate and graduate students, the researchers will mine thousands of COVID-19 genomes that have been archived in various governmental databases, including the United States’ GenBank repository and Germany’s GISAID database, since December 2019. The team plans to dive into the virus’ genome and carry out a series of analyses to determine the number of genetically distinct regional clusters present, and how connected these regional clusters are to each other using statistical analyses. 

Such information has far-reaching epidemiological consequences because it will provide valuable data on the long term viability of the virus and its transmission patterns, according to David.

“The motivation to write this proposal occurred in early March as the virus was spreading throughout the United States,” David said. “We noticed that COVID-19 genome samples were being archived on a daily basis and each sample had well-curated metadata such as the city and country of where the sample came from, date collected, etc.”

The study will be funded by the Clarkson Innovation Fund Project. The results from this research will add to a growing number of similar studies that are leveraging the same dataset to better understand the evolution of this virus.

“We are certainly not the only labs in the race to understand the genetic origins and continued spread of this virus,” David said. “There are numerous teams from around the world that have taken different routes to explore the same issue. Our approach is to use the tools of phylogeography – a field that traditionally caters to the study of multi-cellular animals and plants. We hope to modify these tools so they can be scaled down to investigate the virus”

As a private, national research university, Clarkson is a leader in technological education and sustainable economic development through teaching, scholarship, research and innovation. We ignite personal connections across academic fields and industries to create the entrepreneurial mindset, knowledge and intellectual curiosity needed to innovate world-relevant solutions and cultivate the leaders of tomorrow. With its main campus located in Potsdam, N.Y., and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region, Beacon, N.Y., and New York City, Clarkson educates 4,600+ students across 95 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, the arts, education, sciences and health professions. Our alumni earn salaries that are among the top 2.5% in the nation and realize accelerated career growth. One in five already leads as a CEO, senior executive or owner of a company. To learn more about Clarkson University, go to www.clarkson.edu.


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News directors and editors: For more information, contact Melissa Lindell, Director of Media Relations, at 315-268-6716 or mlindell@clarkson.edu.

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