April 13, 2020
Hello,
As COVID-19 has swept across the world, we recognize the need to develop a rapid and coherent research response to this terrible global pandemic. Many of our faculty have already started to work on coronavirus-focused research. Recognizing the importance of coordinating our medical school and university effort and to work in collaboration with each other, we’ve started a UTHealth wide task force on coronavirus research.
Dr. Charles “Trey” Miller, associate dean for hospital quality initiatives, director of the Center for Clinical Research and Evidence-Based Medicine, professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, and associate vice president for clinical research and healthcare quality, has been asked to take on an additional role in this new environment: to convene this new task force to help steer the UTHealth COVID-19 research response.
The task force met for the first time via a conference call March 31, bringing together researchers from across all six of our UTHealth schools.
The purpose of the task force is to connect investigators and provide a central point for discussion regarding research–ideas, projects, funding announcements, and other areas germane to COVID-19 research. It is particularly important for the university to be organized and disciplined in our approach. The goal of providing the best care to COVID-19 patients has highlighted the urgent need for research—to better understand the virus, the epidemiology of disease, and to develop evidence-based therapies and prevention strategies, including a safe and effective vaccine and novel therapeutics. The pandemic has resulted in research interest throughout the world with substantial funding opportunities.
From that initial meeting, the task force established four main areas of focus: creating a cohort study involving all COVID-19 patients that interact with a UTHealth provider; coordinating informatics to link EHR data and AI tools; reviewing clinical trials; and establishing a biobank.
The cohort of cases is being developed and led by Dr. Eric Boerwinkle, dean of the School of Public Health, in coordination with the School of Biomedical Informatics and many of our healthcare affiliate partners, and will be extended across all of Southeast Texas to maximize the capture of information about this disease and help to determine what risk factors lead to unfavorable clinical outcomes.
The workgroup in informatics is being led by Dr. Jiajie Zhang, dean of SBMI, and involves multiple UTHealth and Memorial Hermann leaders.
The workgroup on clinical trials, co-chaired by Dr. Luis Ostrosky, professor of Internal Medicine, and Dr. Henry Wang, professor of Emergency Medicine, will review clinical trial proposals. The purpose of the committee is to ensure that patients served by UTHealth will have access to the highest-quality studies available, and to assist the clinical workforce with integrating these studies into their already complex workflow. The committee, meeting twice a week, is charged with selection of the most promising studies that can reasonably be implemented in UTHealth-staffed facilities, and with provision of a gatekeeping function and scientific review before the studies are entered into the IRB process for regulatory review and approval.
The biobanking work group is led by Dr. Eric Boerwinkle’s team at the SPH, and its governance committee contains members from all six schools. The purpose of this workgroup is to organize, index, and store specimens safely, and also to coordinate access to patients to minimize the burden of multiple specimen requests, while assuring appropriate consent procedures for sharing.
We realize that this is a public health emergency first and hope the university will be able to contribute in a meaningful way as we move through this terrible global pandemic. We are fortunate that outstanding scientists from all six schools of UTHealth are working to make a tangible difference in the way COVID-19 is identified and treated.
Please join me in thanking Dr. Trey Miller for convening the group and in thanking our scientific teams.
Stay safe,
Barbara
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