Behrouz Touri and Massimo Franceschetti, both on faculty in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at UC San Diego, have secured funding from the National Science Foundation to address COVID-19 using the Susceptible Infectious Recovered (SIR) mathematical model. The two researchers are in the early stages of adapting the SIR model to the current pandemic, in the hopes of identifying policies that effectively reduce the number of COVID-19 infections and mortalities, while limiting the cost to the economy. In time, the researchers hope to provide officials and policymakers at the city and regional level with insight into the efficacy of social distancing, stay-at-home orders and other guidelines.