With the support of CASDEN, and the generosity of the public via fondation-cnrs.org, the CNRS Foundation is backing two research projects.
- Identification of compounds active against SARS-CoV-2 by Caroline Goujon, research fellow at the Institut de Recherche en Infectiologie de Montpellier (IRIM), a joint research unit of the Université de Montpellier and CNRS.
The current COVID-19 health crisis is unprecedented since the Spanish flu of 1918 and its 50 million deaths. In the absence of a cure, numerous clinical trials have been initiated. Vaccines are being developed or tested. However, it will probably take at least a year before a large-scale vaccine can be offered, if it can be obtained at all (despite intensive efforts, vaccines against certain viruses have never been developed). Rapid identification of antivirals is therefore essential to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. The therapeutic repositioning of molecules already on the market for other pathologies, and the exploration of collections of rare/original compounds, are strategies to be favored. We propose to identify antiviral molecules against SARS-CoV-2.
- Covid-19 et Distanciation sociale: Temps subjectif et régulation socio-cognitive des comportements à risque (Covid-19 and Social Distancing: Subjective Time and the Socio-Cognitive Regulation of Risk Behavior) by Sylvie Droit-Volet, professor at the Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale et Cognitive (LAPSCO), a joint research unit of the Université de Clermont Auvergne and the CNRS.
To gain a better understanding of the complexities of health-risk behaviors, and how they evolve during and after the confinement period. This survey of 2,000 people (750,000 data sets in all) is essential for identifying new avenues for reflection and action in the fight against the spread of viruses such as Covid-19. As the measures imposed in the absence of vaccines are of a behavioral nature, their application cannot be the exclusive province of doctors, epidemiologists and economists, but also requires the expertise of behavioral specialists such as psychologists.
