Center for Collaborative Research in Minority Health and Health Disparities

NIH RePORTER · NIH · U54 · $187,497 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract: Among patients with COVID19, there is a high prevalence of cardiovascular disease, and >7% of patients experience myocardial injury as a result of the infection (22% of critically ill patients). COVID19 may disproportionately affect people with cardiovascular disease. Previous observations suggest that underlying cardiovascular disease is associated with an increased risk of in-hospital death among patients hospitalized with COVID19. Furthermore, coagulopathy and vascular endothelial dysfunction have also been proposed as complications of COVID19. We propose a supplement to “Adopting a Precision Medicine Paradigm in Puerto Rico: leveraging ancestral diversity to identify predictors of clopidogrel response in Caribbean Hispanics” to describe and better understand how the COVID19 pandemic is affecting our established cohort of Caribbean Hispanics with cardiovascular disease. Our cohort is currently made up of 549 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), peripheral artery disease (PAD), and/or a history of stroke (CVA) who are currently receiving treatment with the antithrombotic medication clopidogrel (with or without aspirin). Building on the personalized medicine approach we are already developing for this population, we will combine serologic testing to measure individual exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus with their health (symptoms, clinical outcomes, medical comorbidities), access to care (including SARS-CoV-2 testing), and household status during the COVID19 pandemic. This will allow us to evaluate the true prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 exposure in our cohort, as well as understand the phenotypic effects of the virus in our population. These data will shed light on the underlying biological pathways involved in COVID-19 pathogenesis. We will then combine data from our cohort with patients hospitalized for acute COVID19 to perform a targeted and untargeted exploratory genome-wide association study of poor clinical outcomes (e.g., hospitalizations, ICU admission, need of mechanical ventilators) in order to identify potential risk markers or protective genes among Caribbean Hispanics suffering from the disease.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10209376
Project number
3U54MD007600-34S2
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO MED SCIENCES
Principal Investigator
Emma Fernandez-Repollet
Activity code
U54
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2020
Award amount
$187,497
Award type
3
Project period
1997-09-01 → 2022-06-30