National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (2020 DOE transition)
| Book 2 - Issue Papers
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| Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020 |
DOE’s Office of Science (SC) set up the National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (NVBL) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. NVBL capitalizes on the world leading expertise, capabilities, and facilities at DOE national laboratory complex for tackling COVID-19 and creates an effective mechanism for the broader research community to work with the laboratories on combating the pandemic. For decades, DOE has wrestled with the biggest challenges in science, from high energy physics to genomics. In this time of need, NVBL has enabled major advances for combating the threats posed by COVID-19. The NVBL is a model for the future, helping to increase coordination across the national laboratories and leverage unique proficiencies and tools for common national needs.
Summary
The U.S. Department of Energy National Virtual Biotechnology Laboratory (NVBL) is a consortium of DOE National laboratories, each with core capabilities relevant to the threats posed by COVID-19. Funded by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020, the NVBL is taking advantage of DOE user facilities, including light and neutron sources; nanoscale science centers; sequencing and bio- characterization facilities; and high performance computer facilities, to address key challenges in responding to the COVID-19 threat. Examples include developing innovations in testing capabilities, identifying new targets for medical therapeutics, providing epidemiological and logistical support, and addressing supply chain bottlenecks by harnessing extensive additive manufacturing capabilities. The NVBL collaborates extensively with researchers, both in academia and the private sector. In addition, the DOE user facilities are available to users in all sectors of the research community.
Issue(s)
The SARS-COV-2 Public Health Emergency called for unprecedented rapid research response. Facing a global pandemic, the DOE national laboratories are mobilizing on a national scale in ways similar to their origins in the Manhattan Project. That sprawling R&D apparatus developed during WWII, which would become the starting point for today’s DOE national laboratory complex, was created to bring together our scientific and technical capabilities during a national crisis.
With an extraordinary amount of bioscience and biotechnology expertise distributed across the 17 DOE laboratories, but with a need to focus research efforts against COVID-19 as one team, DOE and the laboratories launched the NVBL.
The NVBL framework provides DOE with a standing mechanism to
- i.) quickly assess R&D needs associated with a rapidly evolving situation;
- ii.) identify critical capabilities existing within the national laboratory system, DOE user facilities, and DOE’s broader research enterprise;
- iii.) develop a multi-program and multi-institutional plan to deploy DOE’s unique capabilities; and
- iv.) coordinate efforts with other Federal agencies, state and local representatives, and partners in industry
Institutionalizing the NVBL framework within Office of Science (SC) programs will enable DOE to respond to future shifts in federal priorities or emerging opportunities, including future national crisis situations, in the broader S&T landscape.
Status
Funded by CARES Act funding in March 2020, NVBL supports the following five research projects.
Epidemiological Modeling
To aid U.S. policymakers in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of researchers developed an integrated COVID-19 pandemic monitoring, modeling, and analysis capability. This project takes advantage of National Laboratory supercomputers—including the world’s most powerful—along with significant National Laboratory capabilities in scalable data and computing; spatial demography and human dynamics research; and economic and risk modeling. Ultimately, this project’s analysis framework, multiscale modeling system, and scalable COVID-19 data collection process will provide improved understanding of COVID-19 impacts and heightened situational awareness to government leaders.
Manufacturing
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has resulted in significant supply chain issues regarding critical medical supplies and equipment, especially personal protective equipment. Shortages in supplies such as N95 surgical masks and respirators, face shields, swabs, and ventilators put medical professionals at risk and delay an effective response to the ongoing crisis. This project will leverage advanced manufacturing capabilities at the National Laboratories, including additive manufacturing processes for metals, composites, and polymers, to facilitate accelerated production of these items. Manufacturing techniques will be integrated with materials modeling and characterization at DOE user facilities, including x-ray light and neutron sources; nanoscience centers; and computational facilities.
Molecular Design for Medical Therapeutics
The COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a pressing global emergency for which there are no approved medical therapeutic interventions beyond palliative care. This project is applying a combined computational and experimental approach to accelerate scientific discovery for therapeutics targeting SARS-CoV-2. The efforts take advantage of the National Laboratory capabilities, including supercomputing and artificial intelligence; materials characterization at x-ray light and neutron sources; and nanoscience research.
COVID-19 Testing R&D
Until there is an effective vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, laboratory-based diagnostic tests are critical for protecting vulnerable populations, managing risk to all populations, supporting work strategies, and tracking the evolution of the virus and disease. Even with an effective vaccine, a new generation of tests will be required to monitor susceptibility, infection, and immunity. To address these challenges, the COVID-19 Testing R&D project is leveraging deep expertise at the National Laboratories in chemical analysis and biology to develop new approaches for improved diagnostic testing, including antigen and antibody testing.
Viral Fate and Transport
Significant capabilities across the National Laboratories related to contaminant fate and transport support the emergency response to COVID-19. Experimentation combined with physics- based and data-driven modeling and simulation are being used to address the challenge of SARS-CoV-2 transport, transmission, and fate. This research will provide critical data and modeling results to influence the response to the current crisis and understand factors involved in emergence, circulation, and resurgence of pathogenic microbes.
Milestone(s)
- The NVBL working group was established on March 9, 2020.
- An Expert Panel meeting was held to solicit community input on March 19, 2020.
- The CARES Act was signed on March 27, 2020, providing DOE $99.5M for COVID-19 response.
- NVBL projects initiated from April 2020 to June 2020, each with 3 – 6 months duration.
- The NVBL 2020 Virtual Symposium was held on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, to highlight its accomplishments.
Background
DOE’s rapid research response to COVID builds on the Department’s participation in the National Biodefense Strategy (released September 2018). The Secretary of Energy is a member of the interagency Biodefense Steering Committee, which is responsible for the federal government’s awareness of, preparation for, response to, and recovery from bioincidents. The Office of Science maintains a part-time representative at HHS to take part in the Biodefense Coordination Team, which carries out the policy requirements of the Strategy.
When the COVID-19 public health emergency was announced, the Secretary named the Director, Office of Science (SC-1), to be responsible for DOE research response and the creation of the Coronavirus R&D Task Team (CRDTT), a cross- DOE team that met weekly until summer 2020. One of SC-1’s first activities was to release a Dear Colleague Letter to the scientific community asking for avenues of research that should be prioritized, and that fall under DOE’s broad purview and do not include human health research.
In addition to NVBL, DOE COVID rapid research response activities include the HPC Consortium co- led by SC, the epidemiology/forecasting Tiger Team activities led by SC, the COVID Insights project led by AITO, and transportation modelling work led by EERE.