Officials at Stony Brook University Medicine says there a number of clinical trials that are being launched and designed to identify effective therapies for their critically ill patients.

Officials say the drug Remdesivir, developed to treat Ebola and Marburg, has been tested and appears to be effective in treating COVID-19 in China and in Washington state.

Led by Principal Investigator, Dr. Sharon Nachman, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Children's Hospital, Stony Brook Medicine has administered Remdesivir to two patients thus far with severe COVID-19.

The team is attempting to become part of the clinical trial run by the drug's manufacturer, Gilead Sciences.

In addition, Stony Brook Physician Dr. Bettina Fries is collaborating with a Long Island-based company to launch a new face shield production.
The idea is that the company, Clear-Vu Lighting, could make a prototype of the face shield that doctors could use. The company is now working on a way to mass-produce the face shields for caregivers.

Lastly, Stony Brook University Hospital is also proactively preparing should a ventilator shortage and surge occur.

In a Stony Brook Medicine research laboratory, medical professionals are working on a solution to ventilating multiple patients with one ventilator, as a last resort when ventilators are in short supply.

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