John,

Since the outset of the global pandemic, teams at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have been moving quickly to develop and test a treatment for COVID-19. Their work has focused on convalescent plasma therapy, which uses a transfusion of blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors to provide antibodies that can treat or prevent infection in others. 
 
The treatment has shown promise -- and its development has moved at an unprecedented pace. "On March 1st, 2020, no convalescent plasma was being used in the United States," says Dr. Arturo Casadevall, the lead researcher on the project at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. "By the end of the month, people were being treated." 
 
In late March, Bloomberg Philanthropies provided $3 million to fund broader research and testing along with the State of Maryland. And today, the program is taking another step forward: The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will soon lead two nationwide clinical trials to further assess the potential of the therapy. 
 
To learn more about convalescent plasma therapy and how it might be used to fight COVID-19, watch this video from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health:

In the video, Dr. Casadevall explains how convalescent blood plasma can be used to treat or prevent COVID-19 -- and gives a look inside the work taking place to help provide treatment and immunity with convalescent plasma. 
 
As the research moves into national trials, take a moment to learn about the potential of convalescent blood plasma to help address the COVID-19 pandemic:

https://youtu.be/7vlgOVKo7W4

We're grateful to all of the doctors and researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for all they're doing to help us stay healthy -- and stay hopeful.

Thanks,

Bloomberg Philanthropies