5K race honors Houston man who died of COVID raises $12,000 for research

Nick Georgas was an avid runner who passed away in December 2020 of complications related to COVID-19. In honor of the man they called Papou, Patlovich helped organize the opening of Papou’s 5k. Proceeds from the December 11 race at No Label Brewing Company in Katy, will be donated to COVID research.

Thank you to the nearly 200 runners who took part in Papou’s 5k – $12,000 will be donated to Houston’s UT Health Science Center.

“This kind of activity is incredibly valuable,” said Dr. Luis Ostrosky, infectious disease specialist at UTHealth Houston.

Ostrosky, who led the research at UTHealth Houston COVID-19 Center of Excellence, explains that “grants from pharmaceutical companies deal with mid-sized projects, but they are determined by their priorities – not exactly ours. . . This type of funding, for example. will help us look at antibody testing.”