Clinical Research Directory

Convalescent Plasma Collection and Treatment in Pediatrics and Adults

This is a prospective study, using plasma to help fight off infections of those suffering from COVID-19 in accordance with collection guidelines for plasma and FDA IND requirements. This study included up to 240 participants potentially receiving convalescent plasma. NOTE: West Virginia does not have any entity with the required FDA registration/licensure or necessary equipment to collect convalescent plasma for transfusion. Therefore, the plasma donation portion of this study was not completed.

Observational Digital Biomarker Discovery in Respiratory Virus Challenge Studies

Background: Respiratory viruses circulate throughout the year and around the globe. Wearable and sensor devices, like smartwatches, may be able to help monitor infectious diseases. Researchers want to use them to learn how respiratory viruses affect people in different ways. Objective: To use digital devices to collect data from participants in challenge studies that could indicate subtle changes in health during an infection that might otherwise go unnoticed. Eligibility: Healthy adults who have enrolled, were recently enrolled, or are scheduled to enroll in a challenge study. Design: Participants will stay at NIH for the duration of the challenge study (at least 9 days) and then will have outpatient follow-up visits (2-4). While at NIH, participants will wear a smartwatch at all times. It will record data like temperature, heart rate, breathing rate, and movements. Participants will have a smartphone that records at all times to listen for coughing and changes in voice. Participants will perform tasks every 4 hours during the daytime. They will record themselves coughing, breathing in deeply, and reading aloud. They will take videos of their face. They will play a game to test their reflexes and focus. They will measure their head temperature with their smartwatch. For outpatient visits, participants will use one smartphone and the smartwatch to complete the above tasks. Participants will be sent a smartwatch to wear at home at night to collect additional healthy data. Participation will last the duration of each challenge study, and may range from 10 weeks to 2 years.

Evaluation of Concordance Between Exhaled Air Test (eBAM-CoV) and RT-PCR to Detect SARS-CoV-2

During the COVID-19 pandemic, testing primarily relied on the use of nasopharyngeal swabs to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for the disease. However, this technique has several limitations, including the variable quality of swabs, its invasive nature, and arbitrariness in the choice of the number of cycles. Furthermore, it does not allow for the detection of viral proteins. To overcome these limitations, researchers developed the eBAM-CoV test, patented for the detection of viral proteins in the exhaled air of COVID-19 patients. This portable device provides an immediate assessment of the "viral load" with both quantitative and qualitative results, showing promise for early virus detection. The researchers hypothesize that the eBAM-CoV test is likely to exhibit a satisfactory concordance with the reference RT-PCR test in the detection of COVID-19, especially among symptomatic patients or closed contacts.

Viral Excretion in Contact Subjects at High/Moderate Risk of Coronavirus 2019-nCoV Infection. COVID-19.

In December 2019, a pneumonia due to a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in the city of Wuhan, in China. In a few weeks, the number of confirmed cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection has dramatically increased, with almost 150'000 cases and more than 6'000 reported deaths on March, 16th 2020. Little is known on the rate of human-to-human transmission of this new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the community and within the hospital. Depending on the country, contact subjects considered to be at high or moderate risk of SARS-CoV-2 are, either isolated at home for a period of time defined by the health authorities or, on the contrary, continue their professional activity on the condition that they adopt measures to prevent transmission to those around them. In most European countries, healthcare workers adopt this second option. In all cases, it is most often recommended that contact persons monitor their state of health and communicate it to the persons dedicated to this action. Whether such subjects become spreaders of the virus is not known, nor is the proportion of viral spreader who will develop a symptomatic infection.

COVID-19 Biorepository

Establish a COVID-19 biorepository to aid in developing our knowledge of the disease.

Rutgers COVID-19 Cohort Study

Our long-term goal is to protect the health care workforce (HCW) caring for SARS-CoV-2-infected patients, their families, communities, and the general population. Our specific objective is to rapidly establish a prospective cohort to characterize the factors related to viral transmission and disease severity in a large healthcare system. We addressed this hypothesis by recruiting and longitudinally following 546 HCW and a comparison group of 283 non-HCW within a large academic health system, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS). By intensively following participants over a several year period (2020-2024) and collecting serial biospecimens (nasopharyngeal/throat swabs, blood, and saliva) and questionnaire data at multiple time points, we will uniquely characterize SARS-CoV-2 transmission and risk factors for COVID-19 among HCW and our larger academic community.

ARMOR Study: COVID-19 Seroprevalence Among Healthcare Workers

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread all around the world and testing has posed a challenge globally. Health care providers are highly exposed and are an important group to test. On top of these concerns, health care workers are also stressed by the needs on responders in the COVID-19 crisis. The investigators will look at different ways to measure how common COVID-19 is among health care workers, how common is the presence of antibodies by serological tests (also known as serostatus). The investigators will describe health worker mental and emotional well-being and their coping strategies in their institutional settings. Lastly, the investigators will describe how knowing serostatus can affect individuals' mental and emotional well-being and how to cope in the midst of the COVID-19 response. This will help to how to better test and help healthcare workers in the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for possible future outbreaks.

Prospective Clinical Evaluation of the BioFire Emerging Coronavirus Panel for the Detection of COVID-19 and Other Coronaviruses

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has contracted BioFire Defense (BFDf) to develop the BioFire Emerging Coronavirus (ECoV) Panel, a nucleic acid test capable of detecting coronaviruses from nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) in transport medium. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the assays comprising the BioFire ECoV Panel. It is hypothesized that the BioFire ECoV Panel assays will be highly sensitive and specific for the detection of the coronaviruses included on the panel.

Impact of Aerosol Box Use During Cardiopulmonary Arrest: A Multicenter Study

Aerosol Generating Medical Procedures (AGMP) are procedures that have the potential to create tiny particles suspended in the air. These particles can contain germs such as viruses. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 experience unusually high rates of critical illness that needs advanced airway management and intensive care unit admission. Bag-valve-mask (BVM) ventilation, endotracheal Intubation (ETI) and chest compressions are sometimes required for critically ill COVID-19 patients, and may contribute to a high risk of infection amongst Health Care Workers (HCW). To lessen HCW risk during high-risk procedures, a device called an aerosol box has been developed to place over the head of the patient, shielding the provider's face from virus droplets suspended in the air. The purpose of this research study is to better understand how particles disperse during AGMPs, more specifically during the provision of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The project team hopes what is learned from the project can help inform infection control measures. This could help make changes to the clinical environment and make it safer for HCW's. The investigators intend to explore how an aerosol box performs in reducing contamination of HCW's who perform critical airway interventions during resuscitation events.

A Study to Explore the Role of Gut Flora in COVID-19 Infection

This study seeks to determine whether the virus which causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, is shed in the stools of patients who are infected.

Next Generation T-cell Vaccine Against Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

The study aims to investigate the safety and immunogenicity of one dose vs two doses of a T-cell priming next-generation vaccine against Coronavirus disease.

Risk Factors for Community- and Workplace Transmission of COVID-19

The project is an epidemiological observational study based on an electronic questionnaire on risk factors for COVID-19 in the community and healthcare setting.