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On the frontline of research for COVID-19

CCNews Newsletter Story

Masked researcher

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NIH has been on the frontline and is conducting and supporting research to prevent, treat and better understand the virus. This investigation is made possible by clinical research volunteers who participate in clinical trials evaluating therapeutics and vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, as well as studies of people who have recovered from infection.

The NIH Clinical Center has a website resource where you can find studies related to COVID-19. Researchers across NIH are interested in collecting samples and information from otherwise healthy people, or people with weak immune systems, for studies that investigate the effects of this virus and its development.

The objectives of the studies vary according to the institute investigating COVID-19. For example, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has a study assessing the impact of COVID-19 on alcohol use and the consequences in individuals across the spectrum of alcohol use and those with alcohol use disorder. The National Cancer Institute is examining how immune cells respond to COVID-19 infection.

At another institute, the National Human Genome Research Institute is interested in the role genes may play in how COVID-19 affects people with mitochondrial disease (mitochondria are structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use). Even though the objectives of these clinical research studies are different, they all have the same goal - creating treatment strategies that improve people's health.

The NIH, the largest biomedical research agency in the world, is the leader in the investigation to enhance health, lengthen life and reduce illness and disability and these COVID-19 studies are just the latest example of this.

Interested in participating in a COVID-19 study?

- Omar Echegoyen