COVID-19 Research

The Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology continues exploring innovative solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic. Projects include:

• Ejection Fraction as the Sixth Vital Sign for Patients with COVID-19. Improved triage using point-of-care echocardiography. Through funding from the American Heart Association, Cincinnati Children's cardiologist Andrea Beaton, MD, will lead a team of researchers to focus on using point-of-care echocardiography as a triage tool to track ejection fraction for patients with COVID-19. Co-investigator Nicholas Ollberding, PhD, will contribute to the development of risk prediction models utilizing AI-guided measures of ejection fraction to assess their ability to identify patients with COVID-19 at increased risk of poor outcomes.
• Epidemiology and Transmission of COVID-19 among Hispanic and Black Families in Cincinnati. As the Cincinnati region and nationwide report more COVID-19 cases, historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups continue to be disproportionately affected by the pandemic. In order to respond to these disparities, Katherine Bowers, PhD, MPH, is leading a study in collaboration with Ted Folger, PhD, MS, and a cross-institutional research team to better understand the prevalence of both current and past SARS-CoV-2 infections, how they transmit, and risk factors for infection, severe disease, and death.
• COVID-19 Testing Site Planning Map. Cole Brokamp, PhD, and Erika Rasnick, MS, developed an interactive COVID-19 Testing Site Planning Map in collaboration with Cincinnati Children's associate chair of community health, Robert Kahn, MD, MPH, and members of the Cincinnati Health Department. The map aggregates testing sites across Hamilton County showing which neighborhoods do not have enough access to COVID-19 testing via a 10-minute walk or 15-minute drive. This provides information to equip public health officials to determine the location of popup and mobile COVID testing sites.
• Madeira HealthWatch Assessment Team. As a Madeira City School parent, Folger volunteered his time to join the district’s HealthWatch Assessment Team, to help establish health and safety protocols during the pandemic. To make decisions, the team reviewed data sources, including Hamilton County Public Health, the Center for Clinical & Translational Science & Training at the University of Cincinnati, historical monthly student attendance averages at Madeira City schools, and locally collected data on mask wearing and distancing wellness checks compliance.
• Predictive Model to Map Early-Stage Pandemic Infection Spread. Shelley Ehrlich, MD, ScD, MPH, collaborated with an interdisciplinary team to improve predictions for the spatiotemporal spread of infection at early stages of a pandemic when availability of data is scarce. The COVID-19 pandemic provided use as a case study. Development of novel mathematical and computational models helped to better model uncertainties that drive infection spread and analytically characterize the influence of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on mitigation of the spread of infection. The use of empirical COVID-19 data from the state of Ohio validated the results.
• Effect of COVID-19 on Emergent Stroke Care. In collaboration with University of Cincinnati Stroke Team researchers, Sucharew published findings on COVID-19 and stroke care. Using case log data prospectively collected by a stroke team exclusively serving approximately two million inhabitants and 30 healthcare facilities, the team determined that regional acute stroke consultations declined by 39 percent upon the announcement of measures to mitigate COVID-19. The UC Stroke Team is now initiating outreach and education in local communities to ensure that patients continue to seek appropriate emergent treatment.
• Survey on Impacts of COVID-19 on the Rare Disease Community. A survey by the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) of more than 3,400 families of people living with rare diseases showed large percentages of respondents reporting significant disruptions in care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights are helping the rare disease research community shed light on the needs of people with rare diseases and their caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic and other potential health crises, in addition to informing future research efforts.

Exploring the Link Between Air Pollution and Mental Health

A five-year, $5.3 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) supports research on the impact of air pollution exposure on mental health disorders in children and young adults. More than one in five adolescents will experience a mental health disorder, including depression and anxiety, placing them at higher risk for suicide. The grant, awarded to Patrick Ryan, PhD, MS, Kim Cecil, PhD, and Kimberly Yolton, PhD, will enable scientists to conduct new air pollution exposure studies and analyze its impact on newly collected information about adolescents mental health and brain structure, organization, and function.

Empowering Mothers and Providers and Other Stakeholders to Weigh in as Experts in Research (EMPOWER)

A one-year, $99,779 Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award supports the EMPOWER project led by Nichole Nidey, PhD. The project aims to improve health outcomes for pregnant women with substance use disorders and their children through collaborating with patient, community, clinical, and academic stakeholders. Through the use of patient journey mapping, online learning labs, and all-in meetings, the EMPOWER project will create a sustainable collaborative.

Bench to Bassinet Data Hub

The renewal of the Bench to Bassinet (B2B) grant for four more years provides a total of $21.4 million. The grant, led by co-principal investigators Eileen King, PhD, Michael Wagner, PhD, and James Cnota, MD, ensures that Cincinnati Children’s will continue to serve as the Administrative Coordinating Center and data hub for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s B2B program. The national, multi-site program aims to improve the outcomes of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) by translating discoveries of the genetic architecture of CHD into optimized diagnosis, management, and therapeutic strategies. In the renewal, the B2B program will explore how genetic discoveries may be relevant to clinical applications. Additional goals include equipping junior scientists with the skills and experience of conducting genomic research in CHD and to advance research by the broader CHD research community through robust and timely sharing of data and specimens.

Comparison of Hemorrhagic and Ischemic Stroke Among Blacks and Whites

A five-year, $1.4 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) supports a continued population-based study to evaluate temporal trends in stroke recurrence rates, specifically racial disparities, within a biracial metropolitan population. The research team, including Heidi Sucharew, PhD, and Jane Khoury, PhD, will focus on stroke incidence and case fatality, prevalence of risk factors, stroke treatment, and post-stroke outcomes. Data will help inform proposed recovery and prevention trials.

Language Development and Kindergarten Readiness for Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention features selected research led by Jareen Meinzen-Derr, PhD, MPH, on its hearing loss homepage. Meinzen-Derr published studies in the journal Pediatrics focusing on accelerating language development for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and early interventions to improve kindergarten readiness.

Early Intervention for Cystic Fibrosis Patients

A new predictive tool could allow proactive intervention for children and adults with cystic fibrosis. Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s, including Cole Brokamp, PhD, Emrah Gecili, PhD, Teresa Pestian, MS, Weiji Su, PhD, Rhonda Szczesniak, PhD, and Christopher Wolfe, MS, developed a functional data analysis-based prediction model that uses physiological and phenotypic variables in combination with a panel of novel prognostic blood biomarkers. Feasibility results show that the biomarker-driven algorithm can predict lung function decline three to six months in advance of rapid lung decline with very good sensitivity and specificity.

Diet Quality Trajectories in Early Childhood

By exploring diet quality trajectories in young children, researchers at Cincinnati Children’s led by Jessica Woo, MHSA, PhD, gained new insights on key periods for the development of healthy dietary patterns. The team utilized a highly detailed dataset to evaluate changes in dietary quality during the critical years between age three and seven. Many children had a low overall diet quality by age three which persisted to age seven, characterized by low intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and high intake of fats and added sugar. Data from the study could provide guideposts for clinicians to identify families at risk for low overall diet quality, in addition to metrics for education or intervention.