LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 7, 2020) Rebecca Dutch has been at the University of Kentucky for nearly 20 years. She is considered a leader in the field of virology the study of viruses and now serves as chair of UKs Department of Molecular andCellular Biochemistry.

But her newest field of exploration is unlike anything she has done in her storied career.

She is helping lead researchers and faculty from multiple disciplines across the University of Kentucky as part of the global effort to treat, understand and eradicate COVID-19. The COVID-19 Unified Research Experts (CURE) Alliance team, a new workgroup within UKs College of Medicine, is bringing together UK experts from across the campus to focus on advising COVID-19 patient care and clinical trials based on emerging research and potential treatment options.

College of Medicine Dean Robert DiPaola recently announced the creation of CURE, which the college is funding with additional support from UKs Vice President for Research Lisa Cassis.

Over the next weeks, we will assess emerging studies to guide the College of Medicines clinical enterprise to provide the best COVID-19 patient care available, said Dutch, who is CURE leader. Our goal, in the long term, is to identify the best options for patient participation in ongoing clinical trials, as well as clinical trials we can develop right here at UK.

Dutch says the team, which is now meeting multiple times a week via Zoom, is also identifying potential COVID-19 research collaborations among UK experts. Several CURE team members have expertise directly related to COVID-19.

In this special edition of "Behind the Blue," Dutch discusses her efforts and those of others across the campus to find treatments for COVID-19 as well as why the virus has spread the way it has and how we can all better protect ourselves and others.

Read more about CURE here: http://uknow.uky.edu/research/university-kentucky-researchers-unite-fight-covid-19.

"Behind the Blue" is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher and Spotify. Become a subscriber to receive new episodes of Behind the Blue each week. UKs latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists and writers will be featured, along with the most important news impacting the university.

For questions or comments about this or any other episode of "Behind the Blue,"emailBehindTheBlue@uky.eduor tweet your question with #BehindTheBlue. Transcripts for this or other episodes of "Behind the Blue" can be downloaded from the shows blog page.You can watch a video version of this podcast here.

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'Behind the Blue Special Edition': Rebecca Dutch on UK's Efforts to Treat, Understand and Eradicate COVID-19 - UKNow