Harvard-MIT CRS responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fellows, faculty and staff in the Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science (CRS) and its sister program, The Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, engaged in multiple new research and community projects in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. See publications here.

To address rapidly emerging shortages in medical supplies and devices, the Harvard-MIT CRS coordinated the Greater Boston Pandemic Fabrication Team (PanFab). PanFab mobilized a team of regulatory science fellows, volunteer scientists, engineers, clinicians, and concerned citizens. The PanFab team helped healthcare professionals, first responders and patients by using innovative approaches to alleviate shortages in medical products, coordinate product testing and promote hospital uptake of new solutions. PanFab also studied the problems in healthcare made apparent by COVID19 from a rigorous scientific and engineering perspective and documented its findings in pre-prints and peer-reviewed publications. Contact panfabteam@gmail.com for more information.

Members of the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology (LSP) worked on rapid diagnostic tests that require a minimum of specialized equipment to perform. They also investigated new and existing therapeutics to identify those with the potential to reduce COVID19 symptoms. Finally, the LSP used its highly multiplexed imaging platform to investigate mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and better understand why some patients were severely affected and others were not.

All of our COVID-19 data and results are released to the public as soon as possible using the preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv. For the latest information follow us

Greater Boston Pandemic Fabrication Team (PanFab)
PanFab is a group of volunteer scientists, engineers, and dedicated to meeting the urgent shortage of medical supplies and equipment arising from the COVID19 pandemic.
Learn more about PanFab
COVID-19 Publications
The Center is committed to scholarship that will advance future knowledge and response for tackling future pandemics. Research on these topics can be seen at the link below.
COVID-19 Research Publications
Open Source PPE and device designs
All of our PPE designs are clinically tested under IRB protocol, and both the results and 3D printing design files are available online
See PPE Designs here