Coronaviruses Information for Researchers

NIAID provides research funding and resources for the scientific community to facilitate the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics for infectious diseases, including those caused by coronaviruses.

NIAID COVID-19 Strategic Research Plan

The NIAID Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research details the institute’s priorities for controlling and ultimately ending the spread of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease it causes (COVID-19). The plan focuses on four key research areas to accomplish this.

Read the 2021 NIAID COVID-19 Strategic Research Plan

Next Generation COVID-19 Vaccines

NIAID plans to leverage existing infrastructure and network sites to implement a structured program evaluating up to 10 next generation COVID-19 vaccines in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials.


Read more about Project NextGen in-scope candidates and submission instructions

NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines for Clinicians

Expert U.S. panel develops NIH treatment guidelines for COVID-19.


Read the NIH Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines

Antiviral Program for Pandemics

NIAID’s research program to develop safe and effective antivirals to combat SARS-CoV-2 will also build sustainable platforms for targeted drug discovery and development of antivirals against viruses with pandemic potential.


Read about the Antiviral Program for Pandemics

Resources for Researchers

NIAID provides resources to advance coronavirus research and encourage product development. These resources include viral isolates and preclinical services. 

Funding Information

  • To find grant funding opportunities specific to COVID-19, search for COVID on our Opportunities page.
  • You may consider other funding opportunities that allow you to propose COVID-19 research, for example, Parent Program Announcements.
  • To find all NIAID contract funding opportunities, see contract solicitations.

For the latest information, read recent NIAID Funding News articles.

You can also check out special announcements that will keep you up-to-date on other NIAID-relevant NIH Guide notices.

Data Sharing

Request Access to NIAID COVID-19 Clinical Trials Data Sets

AccessClinicalData@NIAID is an NIAID cloud-based, secure data platform that enables sharing of and access to data sets from NIAID COVID-19 clinical trials for the basic and clinical research community. Read more about AccessClinicalData@NIAID.

Other Opportunities for Shared Data

The Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Diseases and Center for Structural Genomics of Infectious Diseases are making their data publicly available. See more information about the Centers for Research on Structural Biology of Infectious Diseases (CRSTAL-ID) in general.

Share Your Data

Rapidly Share, Discover, and Cite COVID-19 Research Results Generated by NIAID Awards

Connect With Other Researchers

Researchers at NIAID

When COVID-19 was identified in early 2020, NIAID intramural laboratory scientists mobilized quickly to study the virus.  See a list of researchers and find out about work they are doing on COVID-19.

COVID-19 Scientific Interest Group

The COVID-19 Scientific Interest Group was created to promote collaboration and facilitate the exchange of information and resources among NIH intramural scientists and their HHS colleagues concerning research on COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2.

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Biosafety Information

NIH currently recommends that laboratories working with SARS-CoV-2 adhere to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) interim laboratory biosafety guidelines for collecting and handling specimens potentially containing SARS-CoV-2. In addition, all research subject to the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (NIH Guidelines) must be reviewed and approved by an Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).

Get additional information about the NIH Guidelines and IBCs.

Questions related to the NIH Guidelines may be addressed to NIHGuidelines@od.nih.gov

Immune Response to COVID-19

NIAID researchers are spearheading a large, international collaboration to investigate the innate and adaptive immune responses during acute COVID-19 infection and convalescence. The overall goal is to identify immunological and virological correlates and predictors of clinical outcomes. Researchers are currently seeking physicians to collaborate.


Read more about immune response to COVID-19 research
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