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SFU researchers awarded COVID-19 Research Response funding

March 28, 2024
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Researchers in SFU’s Department of Geography, Valorie Crooks and Nadine Schuurman have been awarded a COVID-19 Research Response grant from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. 

Crooks and Schuurman are one of ten BC research teams undertaking critical COVID-19 research to address immediate and emerging issues arising from the pandemic. Their project (A Spatial Approach To Exploring Vulnerability In The Context Of COVID-19 In British Columbia) highlights the importance of geography to understanding COVID-19 and its impacts.

Working alongside health officials, Crooks and Schuurman plan to create maps that use sophisticated analysis techniques to show decision makers where to focus COVID-19 mitigation efforts and interventions. The maps will show where in BC people are vulnerable to developing COVID-19 viral infections, to experiencing challenges in accessing health care and to experiencing health-related secondary impacts of the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Research Response fund focuses on research that evaluates BC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and informs ongoing responses, especially strategies for avoiding or mitigating subsequent waves of transmission.