Epidemiology and Genetics of Susceptibility to COVID-19 Infection

Division Of Cancer Epidemiology And Genetics

Investigators

Abstract

Infection by the acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) results in the infectious disease syndrome known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). SARS-CoV-2 was originally described in late 2019 in Wuhan, China and has since spread throughout the world causing the 2019-2020 COVID-19 pandemic. While many individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection may have mild or few symptoms, others have life threatening illness including severe pneumonia and multi-organ failure. As of May 12, 2020, there have been 1,342,594 cases and 80,820 deaths in the United States due to COVID-19 (https://cdc.gov). This approximately 6% death rate and lack of effective treatment or prevention measures illustrates the urgent need to understand factors associated with risk of severe COVID-19 disease. Irrespective of the actual rate of severe disease and death, it is clear that there will be enormous numbers of severe cases worldwide and management strategies are desperately needed. This is a multi-disciplinary collaborative project with the primary aim of understanding why some individuals with COVID-19 infection have mild clinical symptoms, while others have very severe disease resulting in respiratory failure, multi-organ failure, and death. The multiple aims of this project utilize the wide-ranging expertise of scientists in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, NCI 1) Identify common and rare germline genetic variants associated with risk of COVID-19 infection and outcomes; 2) Identify other biomarkers associated with risk of COVID-19 infection and outcomes; 3) Characterize the contribution of co-morbid conditions, including current or prior cancer to COVID-19 infection and outcomes; 4) Conduct descriptive epidemiology studies aimed at understanding the population-level consequences of COVID-19 on public health and disease; 5) Identify optimal testing strategies to detect and monitor COVID-19 in populations; and 6) Deposit and share data as fast as possible to allow community analyses by bona-fide researchers who seek permission to analyze the data according to NIH data sharing precepts.