Brazil's 'Virus-MCTIC Network' will nationally coordinate research to identifying complementarities of infrastructure and activities

The network established an advisory committee and strategic plan to provide coordinated and quick responses to emerging Viruses. This Virus-MCTIC Network coordinates the efforts of research laboratories with a view to identifying complementarities of infrastructure and activities in the ongoing research on Covid-19, influenza and others. The objectives are the definition of research priorities; coordination of ongoing R,D&I initiatives related to emerging Viruses; and development of technologies to assist the country in facing those challenges. Researchers and representatives of MCTIC, the Ministry of Health and development agencies participate in the initiative.
As an example, within this network, the National Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is already employing tools like computational biology and AI to evaluate the effectiveness of about 2 thousand existing drugs against Covid-19.

Country

Brazil

Institution

Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications of Brazil (MCTIC)