COVID-19 Research

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In a lot of cases, securing a COVID-19 vaccination appointment is like winning the golden ticket. However, for some, the vaccination relief is followed by guilt after getting the shot. "They can feel a little guilty, that’s okay, in time as they realize that they are now insulated to a large degree against a very nasty situation that is developing COVID-19," Dr. Jim Jackson said, "They’re going to feel good, and in time their loved ones are going to get the vaccine."

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has been awarded a one-year, $34-million grant by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health, to conduct a nationwide study of “convalescent plasma” as a treatment for COVID-19. The randomized, controlled trial will test whether infusions of plasma, the liquid part of blood collected from COVID-19 survivors, can help other hospitalized patients with COVID-19. The plasma contains antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

In a new analysis, researchers from the Department of Health Policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found a relationship between the growth of hospitalizations and masking requirements put in place across the state. Hospitals that have more than 75% of their patients from areas without masking requirements in place have seen a relatively faster increase in patients with COVID-19 than hospitals with higher percentages of patients from areas with masking requirements in place.

The effects of Covid-19 are here to stay, including in the brain, at least according to a new study by Mario Mazza and colleagues in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

NASHVILLE, TENN. (WSMV) - A new survey out of Vanderbilt University is showing the toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking on our mental well-being.  Researchers polled parents with children under the age of 18 at the beginning of June.  They found that 27 percent of parents felt like their own mental health had worsened. 14 percent of those parents saw negative changes in their kids. 

Over the past six months, we have learned COVID-19 is not solely a lung disease, but a disease that involves the brain as well. Most patients with COVID-19 have delirium, which is the medical way of saying they are confused, can’t pay attention, and have trouble organizing their thinking.

The ongoing disruptive changes from efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are having a substantial negative impact on the physical and mental well-being of parents and their children across the country, according to a new national survey published today in Pediatrics.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is evaluating razuprotafib, a drug being investigated for the treatment of glaucoma, in a new randomized, investigational trial for the prevention and treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in adult patients with moderate to severe COVID-19. “We urgently need to find effective treatments for COVID-19, especially for patients who develop severe lung injury from the virus,” said co-principal investigator Wesley Self, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“It’s important for all of us to be patient and to be thoughtful in thinking about a new illness,” Natasha Halasa, MD, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics at VUMC, said. “As scientists, we need to work together, to collaborate, and to approach these ideas in a multidisciplinary manner.”

The IVY Research Network has completed initial studies evaluating the epidemiology of COVID-19 in health care workers and patients.

“Mrs. Croft, I truly regret that I’m calling you about a covid-19 research program only an hour after your husband, John, died of his coronavirus infection. None of us know what you are feeling, and we want you to know how immensely sorry we are for all that you and your family are going through.

The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (VICTR) and RTI International, a non-profit clinical research organization based in North Carolina, have been named Administrative Coordinating Center (ACC) of a national effort

Early data assessing the primary language of those who received COVID-19 tests at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and tested positive, illustrates the disproportionate impact the pandemic is having on racial or ethnic communities. Of the first 18,491 patients tested for the novel coronavirus, 1,063 speak 37 languages other than English, according to analysis of electronic health records by VUMC’s Office of Health Equity. Although this group represents 5.7% of those tested, they are 19.4% of those positive and the highest number reside in two adjacent Nashville ZIP codes.