UT Health Science Center at Tyler gets COVID-19 research grant

TYLER — The UT Health Science Center at Tyler will receive a grant for more than $2 million for plasma research to fight COVID-19. According to our news partner KETK, the money comes from the National Institutes of Health and will help answer questions on the effectiveness of convalescent plasma, or blood from people who have recovered from the virus. As of now, the experimental treatment is proving as a promising option for patients with COVID-19. “This is extremely important because a lot of people have been receiving convalescent plasma, but we really don’t know for sure that it works,” said Dr. Steven Idell, dean of the School of Medical Biological Sciences. “This study is designed to answer that question definitely. Does it work? Or doesn’t it work? And if it doesn’t work, does it do any harm?” Here in Tyler the research team will be lead by Drs. Julie Philley and Megan Devine. They will be in charge of recruiting and monitoring 100 of the 800 patients in the study.