Johns Hopkins Receives $35 Million in Funding from Department of Defense for Covid-19 Blood Plasma Trials

Johns Hopkins researchers have received $35 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), on behalf of the Defense Health Agency, for two nationwide clinical trials to test the effectiveness of a convalescent blood plasma outpatient treatment. The treatment is a transfusion of a blood product from COVID-19 survivors that contains antibodies that may help the patient’s immune system fight the virus.

Cancer Research Institute and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Launch Collaboration to Evaluate Liquid Biopsy for More Accurate and Rapid Assessment of Lung Cancer Patient Response to Immunotherapy

The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) and The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research have launched a clinical trial that aims to demonstrate the utility of a novel, ultra-sensitive biomarker-directed blood test, or liquid biopsy, in assessing cancer patient responses to immunotherapy.

Baylor Scott & White Research Institute Expands Efforts in the Fight Against COVID-19

As the global response to the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 approaches 200 days, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the research and development arm of Baylor Scott & White Health, is accelerating its pace of bringing clinical trials online.

Baylor Scott & White Research Institute continues to mobilize staff and resources, including components needed to integrate critical patient-safety measures at every participating site within the Baylor Scott & White system for industry sponsored drug trials, investigator-initiated drug trials and research studies, and observational and data studies designed to help increase knowledge around case trends, viral epidemiology, and care best practices.

UTHealth joins study of blood pressure medication’s effect on improving COVID-19 outcomes

An interventional therapy aimed at improving survival chances and reducing the need for critical care treatment due to COVID-19 is being investigated by physicians at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). The clinical trial is underway at Memorial Hermann and Harris Health System’s Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital.

Mount Sinai Health System, Emergent BioSolutions, and ImmunoTek Bio Centers Form Collaboration to Develop Emergent’s COVID-19 Hyperimmune Globulin (COVID-HIG) Product Candidate with U.S. Department of Defense Funding

Mount Sinai and Emergent to conduct clinical trials to evaluate COVID-HIG for post-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 in front-line health care workers and to support a potential Expanded Access Program for military personnel with funding from the U.S. Department of Defense
– ImmunoTek to extend operating license and provide training to Mount Sinai to establish onsite plasma collection to support production of COVID-HIG

Early clinical trial supports tumor cell–based vaccine for mantle cell lymphoma

A phase I/II clinical trial by researchers at Stanford University suggests that vaccines prepared from a patient’s own tumor cells may prevent the incurable blood cancer mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) from returning after treatment. The study, which will be published June 19 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (JEM), reveals that the vaccines are a safe and effective way to induce the body’s immune system to attack any tumor cells that could cause disease relapse.

$1M Gift Speeds COVID-19 Testing and Tracking at UC San Diego

A $1M gift from the John and Mary Tu Foundation is accelerating the efforts of UC San Diego translational research virologist Davey Smith to increase the number of people tested for COVID-19, as well as develop new ways to track and treat the virus. Smith and his team are studying how the disease spreads to better inform contact tracing, as well as leading clinical trials to test new drugs for treatment of COVID-19.

Montefiore and Einstein Test a New Drug Combination to Conquer COVID-19

Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine have begun the next stage of the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial (ACTT), to evaluate treatment options for people hospitalized with severe COVID-19 infection. The new iteration of the trial, known as ACTT 2, is sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Robbins Family Awards Honor Exemplary Service In Nursing at Memorial Sloan Kettering

As we celebrate National Nurses Week, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and The Robbins Family Foundation recognize seven distinguished nursing staff members for their exemplary service. Each member of this select group is being honored with the inaugural 2020 Robbins Family Award for Nursing Excellence.

Research and innovation as an essential function amid the COVID-19 pandemic

Necessity being the mother of invention, Houston Methodist clinicians, researchers and staff have collaborated on a number of clinical device and research innovations in response to COVID-19. Houston Methodist Academic Institute leadership has continually emphasized translational research in new technologies.

The PALM Trial honored with the Society for Clinical Trials’ prestigious David Sackett Trial of the Year Award for 2020

Each year since 2008, SCT has awarded the David Sackett Trial of the Year Award to a randomized, controlled trial published (either electronically or in print) in the previous calendar year. The 2020 recipient is Pamoja Tulinde Maisha (PALM [“Together Save Lives”] in the Kiswahili language) trial.

How Do Commonly Used Blood Pressure Medications Affect Outcomes Among Patients with COVID-19?

A new international trial will evaluate whether the use of medications to treat high blood pressure affect outcomes among patients who are prescribed the medication and hospitalized with COVID-19. Investigators will examine whether ACEI or ARBs help to mitigate complications or lead to worse outcomes.

UNC Health Workers Called to Join National PCORnet® Study to Fight COVID-19

The Healthcare Worker Exposure Response & Outcomes (HERO) Registry launched this week, inviting U.S. health care workers to share clinical and life experiences in order to understand the perspectives and problems faced by those on the COVID-19 pandemic front lines.

Two Major COVID-19 Clinical Trials Launched to Determine Effectiveness and Safety of Drugs in Treating Coronavirus

Researchers from Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City have launched two vital clinical trials to test the effectiveness and safety of two drugs – hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin – to treat patients with COVID-19.

Clinical trial launches to evaluate antimalarial drugs for COVID-19 treatment

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is launching a clinical trial for patients hospitalized with COVID-19 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The trial will investigate the effectiveness of different combinations of the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin in treating ill patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

UH to launch clinical trial in the fight to protect clinicians against COVID-19

University Hospitals announced it will lead a clinical trial that involves the administration of an investigational drug, ARMS-I, to its caregivers working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trial, named the ARMS-I COVID Study, is designed to assess whether the drug helps prevent airborne transmission of coronavirus and whether it reduces the symptoms of healthcare providers who have tested positive for the virus.

Solving a medical mystery and changing CDC screenings for COVID-19

UC Davis Health physicians and medical staff who treated the first case of community transmission of COVID-19 in the U.S. provide a detailed case study of her condition and the medical steps and challenges they experienced before arriving at a diagnosis and treatment.

New blood test can detect wide range of cancers, now available to at risk individuals in clinical study at Dana-Farber

In a study involving thousands of participants, a new blood test detected more than 50 types of cancer as well as their location within the body with a high degree of accuracy, according to an international team of researchers led by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Mayo Clinic.