For weeks now, researchers at the JKU have been working on ways to combat the spread of the Coronavirus. In this Update they discuss how their research can help control the epidemic.
JKU Corona Taskforce - JKU researchers have been working on contributions against the Corona crisis for weeks. In the Corona Update on April 17, Rector Meinhard Lukas discussed with geneticist Irene Tiemann-Boege, medical and biomechatronics engineer Werner Baumgartner and artificial intelligence expert Bernhard Nessler how their research can help control epidemic events.
In the last few weeks, the Corona test capacities have repeatedly reached their limits. If you really want to control the spread of the corona virus in the current phase of "controlled opening", regular tests, especially by exposed people (health and care areas, local supplies, etc.) are central. For this reason, natural science laboratories in Vienna and Linz have adapted their capacities for PCR testing in the last few weeks in order to supplement the test capacities of clinical laboratories in hospitals. The geneticist Irene Tiemann-Boege is responsible for this at the JKU.
The classic mouth and nose protection that is now to be worn in supermarkets and on public transport does not primarily protect the wearer, but rather those around them. Masks with a specific filter membrane are needed for self-protection (e.g. by doctors or nurses). The nanofibers required for this are necessarily extremely sticky and therefore difficult to process. The medical and biomechatronics technician Werner Baumgartner and his team learned from spiders how the processing of nanofibers can be made much more efficient.
The Red Cross app “Stop Corona” is currently being discussed in terms of functionality and data protection. At the same time, work is being carried out on a uniform standard at European level. The Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) project is an initiative of 130 scientists from different European countries. Researchers from Austria from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Laboratory of the Linz Institute of Technology (LIT) at the JKU are involved. AI expert Bernhard Nessler is the lead at the JKU.
Rector Meinhard Lukas discusses their work against the spread of corona with the following researchers:
- Prof. Irene Tiemann-Boege, Institute for Biophysics, JKU
- Prof. Werner Baumgartner, Institute for Medical and Biomechatronics, JKU
- Dr. Bernhard Nessler, Institute for Machine Learning and LIT-AI Lab, JKU
