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Early UAMS Study Results Show 3.5% of Arkansans Infected by Coronavirus

LITTLE ROCK – Early results from a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS)-led COVID-19 antibody study show that 3.5% of Arkansans have been infected with the novel coronavirus through August.

UAMS researcher Joshua Kennedy, M.D., revealed the initial findings of the Arkansas Coronavirus Antibodies Seroprevalence Survey during a presentation Oct. 21 with Laura James, M.D., director of the UAMS Translational Research Institute.

Laura James, M.D.

The Arkansas Research Alliance (ARA)-sponsored talk focusing on UAMS’ COVID-19 research efforts featured James, an ARA fellow, Kennedy and John Arthur, M.D., Ph.D., also a UAMS COVID-19 researcher. UAMS has eight other studies testing new therapies for COVID-19 either active or in startup.

Kennedy, associate professor in the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, along with Craig Forrest, Ph.D., and Karl Boehme, Ph.D., associate professors in the College of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology, have spearheaded an effort to analyze blood samples from Arkansans.

One aspect of the study involved using remnant blood samples from patients who visit UAMS clinics, including three Regional Campus clinics, and have their blood drawn for health reasons other than COVID-19. The samples, which would be discarded otherwise, are being collected and shipped to UAMS from across the state for the antibody test, which was developed in the laboratories of Boehme and Forrest.

Of 1,220 adult blood samples tested so far, 43 were positive, or 3.5%. From this analysis, samples were collected in July and August, 2020. While low overall, Kennedy said, there are noteworthy differences across populations.

“These early results show the importance of our efforts to survey statewide,” said James, associate vice chancellor for Clinical and

Karl Boehme, Ph.D.

Translational Research at UAMS. “We will continue to evaluate antibody rates over the next several months to monitor the impact of COVID-19 in Arkansas.”

Seroprevalence is the proportion of people in a population whose blood serum tests positive for a particular disease. Unlike diagnostic tests for COVID-19, the seroprevalence antibody testing looks back into the immune system’s history. A positive antibody test means the person was exposed to the virus and developed antibodies against the virus.

It will give state leaders a good estimate of how many Arkansans have been infected with the virus since it first came to the state, even if they did not become ill or have symptoms.

Kennedy praised the collaboration of UAMS Regional Campuses, whose family medical centers in Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Pine Bluff are all contributing remnant blood samples. The collaboration was also made possible by the new UAMS Rural Research Network and the Translational Research Institute, whose resources are helping make use of Regional Campuses’ infrastructure to include rural areas of Arkansas in health research.

The study began this summer after UAMS researchers developed high-accuracy antibody testing methods. As part of the research program, UAMS is collecting blood samples from nearly 7,500 Arkansas adults and children. Arkansas Children’s is leading the pediatric component of the study. The UAMS College of Public Health is leading the epidemiology component of the study, using the contact tracing call center to enroll study participants and collect health histories and blood samples from individuals who represent the entire state.

The study is supported by $3.3 million in federal coronavirus aid that was then allocated by the Arkansas Coronavirus Aid, Relief and

Craig Forrest, Ph.D.

Economic Security Act Steering Committee created by Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

The Translational Research Institute is supported by grant TL1 TR003109 through the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

USDA Awards Grants for Backyard Gardens and Adapting to Climate Change

Rachel Hale (top left), Community Engagement program manager at the UAMS Translational Research Institute, helped acquire grants for community gardens and energy efficiency projects. She is joined in this file photo by other UAMS community garden volunteers (back row) Carissa Ansel, College of Public Health (COPH) student, Taylor Washington, COPH student, and Carolyn Greene, Ph.D. Front row, COPH students Taylor McClanahan and Sarah Fountain.

A UAMS-community partnership has garnered two grants for community and backyard gardens and energy efficiency projects.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded a one-year $100,000 grant for developing a network of gardens to improve access to local foods for low-income communities of color in central Arkansas. The grant will also fund education programs and initiatives to promote urban agriculture, and will be evaluated by the UAMS Office of Community-Based Public Health.

Another $10,000 was awarded by Climate Reality to increase sustainability through backyard gardens and energy efficiency.

The grants resulted from a partnership that involves the College of Public Health Office of Community-Based Public Health, the Translational Research Institute Community Engagement Program, and community partner Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light. Other partners include the University of Arkansas Business Innovations Clinic and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality Farm to School Program.

TRI Community Engagement Program Manager Rachel Hale worked with Arkansas Interfaith Power and Light’s Jimmy Parks, Dr.P.H., garden manager and Scharmel Roussel, executive director, to develop plans and apply for project funding.

The funding, which will provide volunteer and part-time internship opportunities for UAMS students , was applauded by Kate Stewart, M.D., director of the Office of Community-Based Public Health in the College of Public Health, and director of the Translational Research Institute’s Community Engagement Program.

“These exciting projects will engage our students as volunteers in their community gardens,” Stewart said. “It will also help them evaluate projects they are doing with community members to increase the use of backyard gardens.”

Projects will be focused in low-income central Arkansas communities of color living with limited access to affordable and nutritious food, especially the elderly, children, and veterans with high rates of food insecurity, high rates of chronic illness, and disproportionately high utility bills.

Activities to improve food security and help communities adapt to a changing climate will include:

Supporting community members in starting and maintaining backyard gardens and increasing access to energy efficient items and information.
Providing education about plant-rich diets, importance of local food, climate change and health, and energy conservation.
Supporting existing community gardens to provide excess food to the UAMS 12th Street Health and Wellness Center and other food pantries.
Mentoring youth and young adults interested in becoming urban farmers.

October TRIbune Introduces UAMS Rural Research Network

This month’s TRIbune newsletter features the new Rural Research Network, an intra-institutional partnership that leverages the infrastructure of UAMS Regional Programs and its regional campuses.

The network will help TRI meet its mission of helping UAMS more effectively address chronic health conditions among rural populations.

Read The TRIbune

Testimonial Video: Jessica Snowden, M.D., Explains How TRI, Teens Aided Study Recruitment

In this new video, UAMS researcher Jessica Snowden, M.D., chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease in the College of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, explains why she was thrilled to consult a group of teenagers about her study recruitment materials.

Snowden, who needed feedback from those in her target audience, was the recipient of a free service provided by TRI’s Community Engagement Program. TRI offers all UAMS-affiliated researchers a one-time, two-hour Community Review Board (CRB) made up of participants whose life experiences are relevant to the study.

To assist Snowden, the Community Engagement team recruited Little Rock high school students who had recently graduated from TRI’s Community Scientist Academy.

She said the CRB “was insanely helpful” in more effectively recruiting asthmatic children for a multi-site vitamin D study.

Snowden is also co-principal investigator of the NIH-funded IDeA (Institutional Development Awards Program) States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network Data Coordinating and Operations Center. The program directs clinical operations for trial implementation and professional development across a 17-state NIH-funded research group.

Watch the video to learn more about this service.

UAMS Research Expo Draws a Virtual Crowd

Yuet-Kin “Ricky” Leung, Ph.D. (left), won the 2020 Research Expo's Grand Door Prize, a manuscript submission fee to be paid by TRI. Leung also enjoyed the 2019 Expo, above with Nagai C. "Neville" Tam, Ph.D. (File Photo) — Yuet-Kin “Ricky” Leung, Ph.D. (left), won the 2020 Research Expo’s Grand Door Prize, a manuscript submission fee to be paid by TRI. Leung also enjoyed the 2019 Expo, above with Nagai C. “Neville” Tam, Ph.D. (File Photo)

The UAMS Research Expo on Aug. 25 drew 184 registrants for the virtual event with 25 research service providers presenting via Zoom.

Sponsored by the UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI), the event included overviews of up to five minutes from representatives of the research services. Attendees were able to drop into the event to hear scheduled presentations and ask questions via the written comments feature in Zoom. UAMS T-shirts were given away as door prizes, and Yuet-Kin “Ricky” Leung, Ph.D., won the Grand Door Prize, a manuscript submission fee to be paid by TRI.

Attendees expressed their appreciation anonymously in TRI’s feedback survey. “The brief presentations provided a snapshot of many of the resources available at UAMS, several of which I learned about for the first time,” one attendee said.

The UAMS research resources and services presentations: Translational Research Institute (TRI); Office of Research & Sponsored Programs; Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC); Office of Research Regulatory Affairs; Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine (DLAM): Office of Research Compliance; TRI Mock Study Section; ARresearch.org Participant Registry; Institute for Digital Health and Innovation (IDHI); TRI Community Engagement; TRI TL1/ Translational Workforce Development; TRI Research Budget Development; TRI KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Award Program; TRI Pilot Award Program; UAMS Research Pharmacy; TRI Comprehensive Informatics Resource Center; Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute; BioVentures; Institutional Review Board (IRB); TRI Research Regulatory Support; Clinical Trials Innovation Unit (CTIU); Center for High Performance Computing; Implementation Science; Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC); Arkansas Children’s Research Institute.

The TRIbune Is Here!

In this month’s TRIbune, we catch up with one of our KL2 Program graduates, Keneshia Bryant-Moore, Ph.D., APRN, FNP-BC, whose network of faith leaders is providing crucial information about COVID-19 to Arkansas populations most vulnerable to the disease.

Bryant-Moore built the network using community engagement principles that have led to multiple awards from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). She recently received a $150,000 COVID-19-focused enhancement of an existing PCORI grant.

This issue also gives you the scoop on the upcoming seminar series – TRI innOVATION, and the first UAMS TRI Regulatory Compliance Conference, which will include a keynote address by Quincy Byrdsong, Ed.D., an award-winning author and sought-after speaker.

Our Study of the Month features Tina Ipe, M.D., M.P.H.

TRI Offers Video Tour of Research Facilities

TRI’s Cindy Witkowski, B.S.N., RN, director of clinical trials, introduces viewers to key research facilities as part of a video tour, including the lab of Christian Herzog, Ph.D., (center) here with Amanda Daniell, B.S.N., CRS, a TRI research coordinator.

COVID-19-related restrictions have prevented industry sponsors of clinical trials from inspecting UAMS research facilities in person. In response, TRI recently produced a video tour.

The video includes TRI research facilities at the Institute on Aging Building, the Research Pharmacy in the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and a laboratory in the Biomedical II Building. While the video was prompted by distant industry sponsors, it is also available to investigators and other clinical research organizations on the UAMS YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/fep1ZsEO7J0

Mock Study Section Helped Researcher Launch Career

Taren Swindle, Ph.D., recorded a video testimonial on the importance of TRI Mock Study Sections.

UAMS researcher Taren Swindle, Ph.D., whose work is supported by the National Institutes of Health, says a TRI Mock Study Section five years ago was critical to her early funding success. This year, Swindle received a rare perfect score on an application that garnered a two-year, $403,550 NIH award.

As she explains in this video, TRI’s Mock Study Section is a great resource for UAMS researchers.

More information is available on the TRI website. If you have questions, please contact Sandra Hatley, HatleySandraE@uams.edu or (501) 686-5417.

Applications Invited for Implementation Science Scholar Awards

Geoffrey Curran, Ph.D., directs the UAMS Center for Implementation Research and leads the scholars program.

Applications Invited for Implementation Science Scholar Awards

The UAMS Translational Research Institute (TRI) and the Center for Implementation Research are inviting applications for the second class of Implementation Science Scholars.

The two-year program will support clinical faculty in learning and applying the principles and methods of implementation science—the study of how best to promote systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine care. The program provides 20% salary support and prepares faculty to publish the results of their implementation science projects. Eligible applicants include UAMS clinical faculty with a professional degree (M.D., Ph.D., Pharm.D., D.N.P., Dr.PH., D.O., etc.).

The program is led by Geoffrey Curran, Ph.D., director of the UAMS Center for Implementation Research and supported by TRI and its Clinical and Translational Science Award.

Using the principles of implementation science, Curran and colleagues will guide faculty through 10 didactic sessions per year and provide oversight and mentoring for experiential implementation science projects. Scholars who want to pursue research grants to expand on their accomplishments would receive assistance from the UAMS Center for Implementation Research.

The program is open to all full-time UAMS faculty, including at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

Other important dates:

Oct. 19, 2020: Applications due (Email to clmosley@uams.edu)
Nov. 30, 2020: Awardees notified (estimated)
Jan. 6, 2021: Classwork begins (estimated)

Additional information and the RFA are available on the TRI website.

Contact: Cindy Mosley, CLMosley@uams.edu

National Cancer Database at UAMS Becomes U.S. Storehouse for COVID-19 Images

A Chest Radiograph (left) and Computed Tomography (CT) image (right) of the same COVID-19 patient taken one day apart. These UAMS images, now publicly available in the national Cancer Imaging Archive, show COVID-19 lung infection similar to pneumonia. Medical experts refer to the appearance as ground glass opacities, a haziness overlying the lung that is common with COVID-19 patients.

LITTLE ROCK — A national database for patient cancer images at UAMS will become the storage site for COVID-19 clinical images from across the United States and around the globe, including chest x-rays and CT scans of the body.

This week, UAMS also became the first research institution to contribute de-identified images of COVID-19 to the storage site, called The Cancer Imaging Archive. The archive is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The archive is led by UAMS’ Fred Prior, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Informatics in the College of Medicine.

With Arkansas data being the first to arrive, it will be a unique opportunity for researchers across the U.S. to see how COVID-19 is affecting a rural population.

“Researchers are clamoring for this data,” Prior said. “At UAMS, we want to make sure the unique characteristics of our rural population in Arkansas are represented. Our state’s inclusion is really important as scientists are trying to figure out how this disease is evolving, how it’s impacting different groups of people, and why there are such a wide variety of symptoms and outcomes.”

The majority of the COVID-19 images are chest X-rays, the most commonly used imaging procedure for COVID-19 in the U.S., Prior said. About 20% of UAMS cases also have CT scans, allowing more detailed analyses. In addition, many of the CT scans included the chest, abdomen and pelvis.

“We’re looking at internal organs other than just the lungs, which is important because more and more we’re seeing this disease impacting the kidneys and the liver,” Prior said.

The first batch of published de-identified images comes from 105 UAMS COVID-19 patients and includes a representative sample of the viral genomes found in the patients. The collection and publication of the data was funded by the UAMS Translational Research Institute, which is supported by the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, grant UL1TR003107.

The data is publicly available on the archive website: https://www.cancerimagingarchive.net/collections/

“Making this de-identified image and genetic data available nationally is an important step as we work to better understand a disease that’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen,” said Laura James, M.D., director of the Translational Research Institute. “UAMS is helping to lead the way, and we expect there will soon be thousands more patients represented in the imaging database from across the country.”

In addition, she noted, her institute’s Comprehensive Informatics Resource Center, which Prior leads, is helping the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) build a large central repository for COVID-19 research. That storehouse of data will be cross-linked with the imaging archive.

The 62 NCATS-funded Clinical and Translational Science Award institutions, such as UAMS, have been invited to share their COVID-19 data in the repository, called the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C).

Prior and Ahmad Baghal, M.D., director of the UAMS Arkansas Clinical Data Repository, will pilot test the N3C’s mechanism for linking with UAMS clinical data in the repository and data from The Cancer Imaging Archive.

“We are uniquely positioned to help lead these national efforts,” said Prior, who serves on the NCATS Governance Working Group and Tools Working Group. “The Cancer Imaging Archive was shovel-ready for this sort of project, and UAMS is fortunate to have superb data infrastructure thanks to the support of our UAMS and Translational Research Institute leadership.”