From the beginning of 2020, we have witnessed the outbreak and the evolution of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) into a global pandemic. As of April 22nd, this newly emerged deadly virus (SARS-CoV-2) has already claimed over 170,000 lives worldwide and the infection numbers continue to soar. In order to provide information about virus detection and our ways of fighting against the ongoing outbreak, faculty in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Tsinghua University, partnering with the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI), have been rapidly organizing to set up a MOOC – Drug Discovery in Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19.
Prof. Yang Bin, Vice President and Provost of Tsinghua University, expounded the meaning behind the creation of this MOOC. “At present, COVID-19 has presented a severe challenge to the world. Tsinghua University has created this MOOC in order to share the progress we have made in drug discovery for COVID-19 patients, and to explore cutting-edge technological research with all scholars and learners around the world. During the epidemic, a lot of comments or standpoints demonstrate a lack of basic understanding of the relevant fields of COVID-19. As a result, these comments or standpoints appear to have no scientific basis. And one of the important purposes of this course is to help us to make up for this lack. Thus, this MOOC not only targets professionals, but also allows learners outside the field of biology or medicine, and policymakers in related areas, to have a better understanding of COVID-19. It’s a great challenge for our scientists to explain their research to learners in plain language. We hope all learners will benefit from this MOOC, and we believe it will help people throughout the world to strengthen their confidence, and fight the COVID-19 pandemic together.”
Prof. Ding Sheng, Dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, said that the science communities around the world are mobilized, generating vast amount of data and information in merely three months to deepen our understanding of the virus and the disease, so to develop effective new diagnostic tools and therapeutics. This MOOC provides a relatively comprehensive system of fundamental knowledge and technologies employed in the clinical diagnosis and prevention and treatment of COVID-19. It also highlights some unique drug development strategies, the specific virus-host interaction and how artificial intelligence (AI) helps accelerate the drug discovery process.
In the MOOC, Professor Yin Hang from the Tsinghua School of Pharmaceutical Sciences gave a talk on ‘Traditional Chinese Medicine in COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment’. He said that “people have been waiting all over the earth for new vaccinations and cures. But these drugs typically take years to develop. Well, we can't wait. Traditional Chinese medicines may provide an alternative. In the past week，the Chinese food and drug administration has already approved three formulas and three medicines for indications of COVID-19. These drugs are ready to use. We want to share with you our understanding of the applications of traditional Chinese medicines in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19”.
Dr. Pan Lurong, Senior Investigator from the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, gave a lecture on “Artificial Intelligence and other computational technologies in COVID-19 drug discovery”. She explained that, in the event of a global pandemic like COVID-19, global collaboration on data sharing and fast community research mobilization are crucial for efficient discovery iteration to win over time, since people are being infected and dying exponentially every day.
Tsinghua University now opens the “Drug Discovery in Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19” MOOC to all students, researchers, clinicians and policymakers via the XuetangX platform. With more light shed on the virus and the disease, continued research efforts, collectively and collaboratively, will create innovative medical solutions to the unprecedented challenge faced by all human beings.
