Professor Katherine Amato receives Manulife CIFAR Population Health & Well-being Grant for COVID-19-related population health projects

Professor Katherine Amato has received a Manulife CIFAR Population Health & Well-being Grant for COVID-19-related population health projects. This program funds six interdisciplinary project team focused on pushing traditional research boundaries and offering new insight into how the pandemic will influence society.

“From the long-term effects of COVID-19 on infant microbiomes, on the developing brain and on child health, to the impact of the global pandemic on our social networks and well-being, [these projects] address questions that are crucial to understanding the full impacts of the pandemic,” said Dr. Alan Bernstein, O.C., CIFAR president and CEO.

Professor Amato conducting research

Dr. Katherine Amato, professor in the Department of Anthropology, will utilize this grant to examine how responses to COVID-19 will affect infants’ microbiomes. This study will lay foundations for a larger future study, including the collection of “post-pandemic” samples for comparison to the ones collected in this pilot study. Professor Amato’s project is titled. “The influence of COVID-19 behavioral responses on early life microbial exposures.”

Read more about this study and Professor Katherine Amato’s other research on her website.

Related: Anthropologists Katherine Amato and Thomas McDade receive grants for COVID-19-related health projects – Northwestern Now