University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute

ABSTRACT The pandemic prompted by the novel SARS-COV-2 virus continues to have a devastating effect on the physical, social, and economic health of communities throughout the world. To evaluate the sero-prevalence of immunity against SARS-COV-2 in the United States, this scientific partnership of Clinical and Translational Science Awardees (CTSAs) at academic medical centers (University of Alabama and University of Pittsburgh) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Laboratory of Infectious Disease identified, enrolled, and obtained blood samples from 11,300 adults who have not been diagnosed with COVID-19 representing almost every county in the US and all major racial and ethnic groups. We will now seek consent from these participants to provide follow-up data and blood samples and 6 and 12 months after enrollment (Aim 1) and determine the immune attributes associated with health outcomes (Aim 2), including for those in underrepresented populations and across the life course. This collaborative partnership of the intramural NIAID program and extramurally funded CTSA Hubs will efficiently survey, obtain blood samples from, and determine changes in the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a large, heterogeneous cohort of adults without known clinical COVID-19 disease. Knowledge gained from this seroprevalence study will advance our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 humoral immunity at the population level and inform population strategies for vaccination - both for the COVID-19 pandemic and future epidemics involving novel pathogens.