Stanford scholars and researchers lend their expertise to tackling the COVID-19 crisis

More than 1 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with COVID-19, and the numbers keep steadily rising.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented worldwide crisis. In the United States alone, within a few short weeks, virtually all aspects of people’s lives have changed through broad shelter-in-place orders, massive layoffs and the sudden need to balance work and family responsibilities in new ways – all while many thousands of people worldwide continue to fall ill.

From addressing immediate medical challenges to considering the wider societal, economic and legal implications of the crisis, Stanford is applying its interdisciplinary expertise in the hopes of ensuring an equitable recovery for all people and offering solutions that can be scaled to benefit the world. 

Below is a sampling of the ongoing work and perspectives.

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Social context of COVID-19

The challenges posed by COVID-19 go beyond those related to health and medicine. As the pandemic subsides, a changed world will emerge that requires study and consideration. Nations worldwide will have to work to ensure that the recovery is equitable for all and that humanity is better prepared to act the next time a pandemic occurs.

Science & Technology

COVID-19 in a world made ripe for pandemics

Emerging infectious diseases have become more likely – and more likely to be consequential – partly as a result of how people move around the planet and relate to the natural world.

Humanities

New outbreak, familiar anxieties

Stanford historian Kathryn Olivarius discusses her research into antebellum New Orleans and how the yellow fever epidemic shaped the region economically and socially – at a devastating and deadly cost.

Social Sciences

Why fake news about coronavirus is appealing (and how to avoid it)

Check health-related information about the coronavirus from established news sources rather than from shared stories in social media, advises Professor of Communication Jeff Hancock.

Medicine

Coronavirus misperceptions widespread in early weeks, according to Stanford study

Stanford Medicine conducted a quick online survey to test the public's current understanding of the coronavirus and to illustrate a useful way to gather data.

Pandemics and propaganda: How Chinese state media shapes conversations on the coronavirus

The Stanford Internet Observatory looks at how coronavirus narratives targeting English-speaking audiences have played out on Chinese state media.

How Taiwan used big data, transparency and a central command to protect its people from coronavirus

Stanford Health Policy’s Jason Wang, an associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine who also has a PhD in policy analysis, credits his native Taiwan with using new technology and a robust pandemic prevention plan put into place at the 2003 SARS outbreak.

Social Sciences

Motivation, provenance of disinformation is pivotal in news reporting

Stanford scholars Janine Zacharia and Andrew Grotto discuss strategies for reporters and editors to write about disinformation, leaked material and propaganda in a responsible and timely way.

Science & Technology

Modeling social distancing’s impact

Biologist Erin Mordecai discusses different social distancing strategies, how long we may need to maintain them and the risk of a disease resurgence if precautions are lifted too early.

Science & Technology

Stanford-led team develops privacy-focused coronavirus alert app

Covid Watch is a smartphone app that allows an infected person to send an anonymous alert to others with the same app whom they may have infected.

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Staying healthy and productive

How will COVID-19 change the way we educate our young and provide for family and work balance in the future? The pandemic has turned our world inside out, robbing us of our interpersonal relationships and making online education and technological connections more important than ever. Stanford scholars have been applying their expertise to help with the current work and health challenges the pandemic poses, as well as anticipating what a post-pandemic world will look like.

Social Sciences

Try “distant socializing” instead

The same technologies that people once blamed for tearing society apart might be our best chance of staying together during the COVID-19 outbreak, says Stanford’s Jamil Zaki.

Campus Life

Tips for coping with anxiety in the face of COVID-19

Rosan Gomperts, director of the Faculty Staff Help Center, discusses practical steps individuals can take to cope with anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social Sciences

Upgrading lessons for kids at home during school closures

With schools across the country closing temporarily to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Stanford education scholar Denise Pope suggests ways to get K-12 students excited about learning at home.

Connecting in the virtual college classroom

Digital learning experts at the GSE share tips to help instructors build community and collaboration while teaching remotely.

Social Sciences

The productivity pitfalls of working from home in the age of COVID-19

Nicholas Bloom is widely known for his research showing the benefits of working from home. But in the current coronavirus crisis, the economist fears productivity will plummet.

Science & Technology

Stress disrupts our ability to plan ahead

Pairing brain scans with virtual-navigation tasks, researchers found that people make less efficient and effective plans when stressed.

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Applying scientific and medical expertise

Stanford researchers have quickly refocused their work to address the COVID-19 crisis. Their innovations have been widely adopted, from the development of novel ways of testing for COVID-19 to the modeling of the effects of social distancing. The challenges before society are significant in their complexity, requiring aggressive cooperation across disciplines. Stanford scientists, whose work has always been characterized by interdisciplinary cooperation, have responded. In areas ranging from engineering to medicine, they are focused on creating breakthrough technologies and new treatments and diagnostic tools that will benefit people worldwide.

Medicine

Stanford’s COVID-19 testing provided to Bay Area hospitals

Stanford’s test for COVID-19 is rapidly expanding capacity to serve patients in the Bay Area and beyond. Researchers hope to soon be able to process more than 1,000 tests per day.

Medicine

Stanford Medicine leadership offers updates, assurances on COVID-19

Leaders of the Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children’s Health answered questions about COVID-19 and discussed how Stanford Medicine is addressing the outbreak.

Medicine

Stanford Medicine COVID-19 test now in use

The Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory has deployed an in-house diagnostic test for the virus that causes COVID-19. Rapid identification of infected people could help limit the spread of the virus.

Medicine

Drive-through coronavirus testing available by appointment at Stanford Health Care

Drive-through appointments for Stanford Medicine’s COVID-19 test are available for patients who have been referred by their medical providers.

Science & Technology

Stanford seeking to expand space for COVID-19 research

Stanford is looking to expand the only facility on campus where researchers can work with the virus that causes COVID-19. Once underway, the expansion could be completed in six months and would greatly speed research toward treatment and prevention.

COVID-19 patients often infected with other respiratory viruses, preliminary study reports

A preliminary analysis finds that people infected with the virus that causes COVID-19 are often co-infected with other respiratory viruses.

Science & Technology

Stanford researchers help show it’s possible to reuse N95 masks

Researchers from Stanford and other universities scoured the scientific literature to create N95decon.org, a web portal that medical professionals can access for trustworthy information on how to decontaminate used N95 masks.

Science & Technology

Open science in the era of COVID-19

Science moving forward without traditional forms of peer review could shorten the path to solutions – but it also increases the chances that low-quality science gets overhyped.

Medicine

Stanford Medicine offers high-priority COVID-19 testing and new app to first responders

Stanford Medicine is offering high-priority COVID-19 testing and a new screening and informational app to local police, firefighters and paramedics.

Science & Technology

Artificial intelligence and COVID-19: How technology can understand, track and improve health outcomes

Scholars, practitioners, and experts across disciplines share what’s working and where research can help during HAI's virtual conference.

Science & Technology

Understanding spread of disease from animals to human

In Uganda, loss of forested habitat increases the likelihood of interactions between disease-carrying wild primates and humans. The findings suggest the emergence and spread of viruses, such as the one that causes COVID-19, will become more common as the conversion of natural habitats into farmland continues worldwide.

Science & Technology

Understanding spread of COVID-19

Stanford professor Alexandria Boehm and visiting scholar Krista Wigginton describe potential transmission pathways of COVID-19 and their implications.

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Public policy, law and the economy

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented job loss, aggressive governmental action and reconsiderations to how to best meet the needs of citizens. The global economy is struggling, while governments and businesses are trying to innovate in the midst of crisis. Stanford scholars have been offering their recommendations and perspectives to how we can best cope from a political, legal and economic perspective in a way the results in an equitable future for all.

Social Sciences

Is this the moment for universal basic income?

Stanford historian Jennifer Burns discusses how universal basic income could become a major discussion point in Washington D.C. as policymakers respond to the economic blow of the coronavirus pandemic.

Law & Policy

Stanford Law’s Bill Gould on the coronavirus and weaknesses in the labor safety net

Labor law expert Professor William Gould discusses the challenges facing workers during this time of national crisis – and the gaps in America’s safety net leaving many vulnerable.

Law & Policy

Q&A: Stanford Law’s Michelle Mello on regulating the spread of the coronavirus

Health law expert Michelle Mello discusses COVID-19 and how policy is being developed to contain its spread.

Law & Policy

Stanford Law’s Bernadette Meyler on executive powers in times of crisis

Legal historian and constitutional law scholar Bernadette Meyers discusses the powers of the president and state governors to address the lack of critical medicines and diagnostic and medical supplies such as ventilators and N95 masks.

Social Sciences

Coordinated response needed to fight coronavirus pandemic

Without coordination within and across countries, the novel coronavirus will endlessly reemerge, with devastating consequences for public health and the global economy, says Stanford scholar Matthew Jackson.

Darrell Duffie on the financial markets in a coronavirus world

As a recession looms over the coronavirus pandemic, SIEPR Senior Fellow Darrell Duffie discusses the volatility of the financial markets and potential stabilizing measures.

Social Sciences

‘We can’t simply respond with a spirit of recuperation’: Remaking schools after COVID-19

On this episode of School's In, GSE Associate Professor Jonathan Rosa says the current crisis is an opportunity to address inequities in education.

Social Sciences

Economists to Congress: Don’t bail out big business

An open letter drafted by Stanford professors says the coronavirus stimulus package should benefit workers — not corporations and their wealthy shareholders.