We’re pleased to say that our Coronavirus Response Fund has now raised more than £275,000 thanks to the generosity of over 900 donors.
The Fund, launched on 3 April, will support and accelerate our research and other activities aimed at tackling COVID-19.
This recent milestone was aided by a gift from alumnus Dr Chai Patel CBE FRCP and his family foundation, The Bright Future Trust. Dr Patel joins hundreds of other alumni, supporters and organisations from the Southampton area and around the world in supporting the University’s efforts to lessen the impact of the pandemic.
In response, the University has now begun to allocate grants from the Fund, with students amongst the first to benefit including student nurses and medics working on the frontline.
Funds have also been distributed to interdisciplinary research teams developing new ways of tackling the disease including:
- the further development and testing of the PeRSo personal respirator for frontline healthcare staff;
- the scaling up of research by Professor Max Crispin whose team recently produced the first model of a spike of the virus;
- the expansion of the University’s project to establish a second line of generation and distribution of PPE fit test solutions.
“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of the many donors who have contributed to this Response Fund which greatly helps to ensure that the University’s research and other activities can continue at pace to respond to these unprecedented challenges,” said Professor Mark E Smith, the University’s President and Vice-Chancellor.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to the Southampton Coronavirus Response Fund can do so by clicking here.
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