Establishment of a COVID-19 perinatal biorepository in a safety net population

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Alexandra D Forrest, Emory University; Naima Joseph, Emory University; Les'Shon S Irby, Emory University; Alicia Smith, Emory University; Martina Badell, Emory University; Carolynn Dude, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-08-01
• Publisher: Elsevier Inc.
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2022 National Medical Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnma.2022.03.003
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of the National Medical Association
• Volume: 114
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 390
• End Page: 391
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was funded by Emory Medical Care Foundation and the Emory Woodruff Health Sciences Synergy Award.
• Keywords: Safety net; SMM; Biorepository; Pregnancy Complications, Infectious; Pregnancy; Humans; COVID-19; Female; SARS-CoV-2
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Abstract

Pregnant people and minorities are at increased risk for severe COVID-19 infection, including hospitalization, ICU admission and death.1, 2, 3 Early research on the maternal and fetal implications of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy focused on maternal outcomes and was limited by lack of patient diversity and biospecimen data to answer questions related to maternal immunity and passive immunity.4 The Grady Memorial Hospital obstetrics service, which is a large publicly supported hospital in Atlanta (970 beds, approximately 2500 deliveries per year), a tertiary referral hospital, and a safety net institution, is uniquely poised to address this literature gap. Despite this, an infrastructure did not previously exist for biologic sample collection.