Center for Serological Testing to Improve Outcomes from Pandemic COVID-19 (STOP-COVID)

Overall Project Summary Stemming the spread of COVID-19 will require research that cross-cuts basic, translational, and applied sciences. The Center for Serological Testing to Improve Outcomes from Pandemic COVID-19 (STOP- COVID) is proposed as a transdisciplinary entity to understand the interface between exposure risk, transmission, immune responses, disease severity, protection, and barriers to testing/vaccination, with the goal of improving population health and clinical outcomes. The Center will utilize state-of-the-art serological and molecular tests, developed at OSU, in a longitudinal study of first responders, a group at continual high risk of SARS-CoV-2 exposure, as well as their household contacts. Through the proposed work, STOP-COVID investigators will understand critical aspects of: (i) transmission in both asymptomatic and symptomatic individuals, (ii) immune, host, and viral determinants of disease outcome, and (iii) factors associated with immune protection. Center investigators will also identify best practices for communication of test results and information about COVID-19 to improve understanding of risk, transmission, and protection, while reducing access barriers to testing. The Center to STOP-COVID will: Aim 1 Develop Institute Infrastructure through three shared resource cores: 1. An Administrative Core that provides overall direction and leadership, coordinating all Center activities as well as Project-Core-SeroNet interactions; 2. A Testing and Biorepository Core, whose role is to perform first-tier serologic and viral testing during our longitudinal study using high throughput ELISA and neutralization assays developed at OSU, and cost-shared by OSU; and 3. A Data Management and Analysis Core that will provide project investigators with a centralized resource for biostatistics, bioinformatics, epidemiology, and psychometrics expertise. Aim 2: Conduct three innovative research projects to address: Project 1: Parallel serological and viral testing to determine COVID-19 prevalence, transmission, and protection in extended first responder cohorts. This project will also generate serology data for vaccines or mAbs, once available to this presumably high-priority group; Project 2: Serologic and molecular determinants of COVID-19 severity and immune protection. This project will evaluate COVID-19 serological responses in the context of SARS-CoV-2 and common cold CoV (CCCoV) antibodies, using novel assays specific for a panel of antigens. Project 2 also will employ transcriptomics to understand how host genetics, CCCoV, other respiratory viruses, and immune responses contribute to pathogenesis; and Project 3: Responding to changing serological and viral information around COVID-19. This project will incorporate results from Projects 1 & 2 and SeroNet to inform best practices in risk communication, provide behavioral guidance to decrease transmission, and enhance protection from disease. Aim 3: SeroNet Participation and Sharing of Data and Best Practices. We will leverage STOP-COVID infrastructure to share data, results, reagents, and best practices with SeroNet, which will drive new discoveries and their translation into actionable strategies for implementation across all groups affected by COVID-19.