Radical Approaches to COVID-19 Testing, Surveillance and Predicting Susceptibility to Developing Long Covid/PASC
The National Institutes of Health launched the RADx-Radical program to support innovative, non-traditional diagnostic approaches to address gaps in COVID-19 testing, surveillance and to predict the susceptibility of developing Long COVID / Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS CoV-2 infection (PASC). The program supports development of novel approaches to identify the current SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, its variants, as well as tools with the potential to detect and combat emerging infectious diseases. Novel biodevices and computational approaches emerging from this initiative are poised to advance detection capabilities for the diagnosis and monitoring of COVID-19, and establish new data streams that enable predictive models to support clinical decisions and prognosis of short and long term effects.
Dr. Orlando Lopez is the Director of the Dental Materials and Biomaterials Program at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). Dr. Lopez contributes to programmatic efforts to strengthen NIDCR’s bio-materials portfolio in basic science and translational research dedicated to restauration and repair of dental and craniofacial tissues. He also manages technology innovation grants under SBIR and STTR programs. Additionally, he oversees an interagency agreement with NIST dedicated to establishing performance standards for dental materials. Prior to NIDCR, Dr. Lopez served as lead regulatory reviewer at CDRH/FDA where he led medical device approvals in imaging, cardiovascular and digital health technologies.