As the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in the U.S. and around the world, dozens of University of Michigan experts across a wide variety of disciplines are conducting research and using their expertise to address COVID-19 and its impact on public health, the economy, the environment, education and more.

The World Health Organization called countries to "pull out all the stops" and warned "this is not a drill," as new coronavirus infections surpass the 100,000 threshold worldwide. As the outbreak unfolds, nearly three dozen University of Michigan experts can discuss its societal, economic and public health impacts.

FACULTY Q&A Wild stock market gyrations and runs on toilet paper as well as other home goods might seem like acts spurred by financial and economic fear and panic. But Paolo Pasquariello sees such reactions as rational—if not always ethical—in a time of a global pandemic, which affords economists and policymakers the opportunity to develop Read more

FACULTY Q&A The COVID-19 pandemic has rampantly heightened stress and anxiety during these uncertain times, leading some to hoard groceries such as toilet paper, eggs, meats, bread and hand sanitizer. Stephanie Preston, a behavioral neuroscientist in the University of Michigan Department of Psychology, studies the role of stress and emotions on decision processes like hoarding, Read more

FACULTY Q&A Social connection is a primary way to cope with mental health difficulties and stress. At a time when much of the population is practicing social distancing due to the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by a novel coronavirus, losing direct connection with friends, colleagues and extended family can exacerbate existing mental health Read more

Richard Curtin is director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, which conducts national monthly surveys of consumer attitudes, expectations and behavior. He discusses below whether consumers are in a panic, a question he says he has been asked repeatedly in recent days. Here’s his response: The latest data from the University of Michigan’s Read more

ANN ARBOR—In response to projected shortages of hand sanitizer, students at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy are working with Michigan Medicine to compound hand sanitizer. The FDA released guidance with recommendations for appropriate preparation of hand sanitizer in response to the COVID-19 shortage. Pharmacy Dean James Dalton said he connected with Michigan Medicine Read more

ANN ARBOR—Could a community’s wastewater give an early warning of the spread of COVID-19? With a rapid response grant from the National Science Foundation, a research team from the University of Michigan and Stanford University is exploring this and other questions about how the novel coronavirus behaves and moves through the environment. Project leader Krista Read more

Cynthia Chestek has turned her lifelong passion for “making” into a very successful career in engineering. Her team at the University of Michigan has come up with a way for amputees to control prosthetic devices using their brain waves. Her family connection to the university started with her grandfather Warren Bentz, who attended in the Read more

ANN ARBOR—Eighty-five percent of the universe is composed of dark matter, but we don’t know what, exactly, it is. A new study from the University of Michigan, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and University of California, Berkeley has ruled out dark matter being responsible for mysterious electromagnetic signals previously observed from nearby galaxies. Prior Read more

FACULTY Q&A Liang Qi, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Michigan, answered questions about his group’s new paper in npj Computational Materials. What is elastic stiffness? Elastic and glass don’t seem to be two words that go together. All solid materials, including glass, have a property called elastic stiffness—also known Read more

ANN ARBOR—You’ve been harassed online and the social platform has removed the offending post, so that’s it, right? End of story. University of Michigan researchers say, “Not so fast.” Sarita Schoenebeck, associate professor at the U-M School of Information, says current means of dealing with online harassment mirror the criminal justice system by penalizing the Read more