COVID-19

Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) and Cook County Health (CCH) have cared for over two thousand patients with COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the pandemic in January 2020. During the first surge of infections in Chicago, Rush University Infectious Diseases launched an additional three COVID-19 services at RUMC to treat the seriously and critically ill patients admitted to the hospital. ID fellows participated in clinical care and provided vital infection control as well as testing assistance at RUMCH and Stroger Hospital. During this time, ID faculty at Cook County Health and RUMC led or participated in multiple epidemiologic studies, diagnostic investigations, and clinical trials of vaccines and therapeutics. ID fellows participated in these activities, including by providing essential assessments of study patients. 

ID fellows were instrumental in developing and updating infectious diseases treatment guidance that is applied across RUMC and CCH. The guidance documents are evidence-based, and, given the rapid evolution of information on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, are updated regularly to keep abreast of new data.  

Selected COVID-19 studies with fellow involvement are listed below; fellows’ names are shown in bold type. 

1. Genomic Investigation to Identify Sources of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Infection Among Healthcare Personnel in an Acute Care Hospital. Sansom SE, Barbian H, Hayden MK, Fukuda C, Moore NM, Thotapalli L, Baied EJ, Kim DY, Snitkin E, Lin MY; CDC Prevention Epicenter Program.Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022 Oct 31;9(11):ofac581. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofac581. eCollection 2022 Nov.PMID: 36467294 
2. Duration of Replication-Competent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Shedding Among Patients With Severe or Critical Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Kim DY, Lin MY, Jennings C, Li H, Jung JH, Moore NM, Ghinai I, Black SR, Zaccaro DJ, Brofman J, Hayden MK; CDC Prevention Epicenter Program.Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Feb 8;76(3):e416-e425. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac405.PMID: 35607802

Selected multicenter COVID-19 clinical treatment trials: 

1. Healthcare Worker Exposure Responses and Outcomes of Hydroxychloroquine Trial (HERO-HCQ) (in process). Elias Baied, MD, Beverly Sha, MD, Carlos Santos, MD, Ajay Sood, MD, Kimberly Blanchard, NP, Raj Shah MD, Yoona Rhee, MD.  
2. A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Tocilizumab in Patients With Severe COVID-19 Pneumonia. Site PI: Mariam Aziz, MD
3. A Phase 3 Randomized Study to Evaluate the Safety and Antiviral Activity of Remdesivir (GS-5734™) in Participants With Severe COVID-19. Conducted at RUMC, site PI Shivanjali Shankaran, MD,  and CCHS, site PI Gregory Huhn, MD
4. A Phase 3 Randomized Study to Evaluate the Safety and Antiviral Activity of Remdesivir (GS-5734™) in Participants With Moderate COVID-19 Compared to Standard of Care Treatment. Conducted at RUMC, site PI Shivanjali Shankaran, MD,  and CCHS, site PI Gregory Huhn, MD
5. A Multicenter, Adaptive, Randomized Controlled Platform Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Antithrombotic Strategies in Hospitalized Adults With COVID-19 (ACTIV-4). Conducted at CCH, site PI Dr. Katayoun Rezai, MD
6. A Multicenter Platform Trial of Putative Therapeutics for the Treatment of COVID-19 in Hospitalized Adults (ACTIV-5). Conducted at CCH, site PI Dr. Audrey French, MD 
7. The Safety of Molnupiravir (EIDD-2801) and Its Effect on Viral Shedding of SARS-CoV-2 (END-COVID). Conducted at CCH, site PIs Gregory Huhn, Katayoun Rezai.
8. Adaptive Platform Treatment Trial for Outpatients With COVID-19 (ACTIV-2). Conducted at CCH, site PI Monica Mercon, MD, PhD
9. A Study of LY3819253 (LY-CoV555) and LY3832479 (LY-CoV016) in Participants With Mild to Moderate COVID-19 Illness (BLAZE-1). Conducted at CCH, site PI Gregory Huhn, MD, MPHTM. 

Other selected COVID-19 studies and Guideline Development

1. Inpatient and outpatient testing of COVID 19 at John H. Stroger, Jr Hospital of Cook County. from March 2, 2020 to present: Screening rates, positive testing and disease related outcomes. Katayoun Rezai, MD 
2. Tocilizumab for COVID-19-related disease: assessing clinical correlates and response to treatment. Ronald Lubelchek, MD 
3. Trick WE, Badri S, Doshi K, Zhang H, Rezai K, Hoffman MJ, Weinstein RA. Epidemiology of COVID-19 vs. influenza: Differential failure of COVID-19 mitigation among Hispanics, Cook County Health, Illinois. PLoS One. 2021 Jan 28;16(1):e0240202. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240202. PMID: 33507941; PMCID: PMC7842982.
4. HVTN 405/HPTN 1901 - Characterizing SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity in convalescent individuals. Temitope Oyedele, MD 
5. Adediran T, Zawitz C, Piriani A, Bendict E, Thiede S, Barbian H, Aroutcheva A, Green SJ, Welbel S, Weinstein RA, Snitkin E, Popovich KJ. Genomic Epidemiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in a County Jail. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 Dec 22;11(2):ofad675. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad675. eCollection 2024 Feb.
6. Barbian HJ, Kittner A, Teran R, Bobrovska S, Qiu X, English K, Green SJ, Ghinai I, Pacilli M, Hayden MK. A response playbook for early detection and population surveillance of new SARS-CoV-2 variants in a regional public health laboratory. BMC Public Health 2024 Jan 2;24(1):59.
7. Gottlieb M, Yu H, Chen J, Spatz ES, Gentile NL, Geyer RE, Santangelo M, Malicki C, Gatling K, Saydah S, O'Laughlin KN, Stephens KA, Elmore JG, Wisk LE, L'Hommedieu M, Rodriguez RM, Montoy JCC, Wang RC, Rising KL, Kean E, Dyal JW, Hill MJ, Venkatesh AK, Weinstein RA. Differences in Long COVID severity by duration of illness, symptom evolution, and vaccination: a longitudinal cohort study from the INSPIRE group. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2025 Feb 14;44:101026. doi: 10.1016/j.lana.2025.101026. eCollection 2025 Apr.
8. Venkatesh AK, Yu H, Malicki C, Gottlieb M, Elmore JG, Hill MJ, Idris AH, Montoy JCC, O'Laughlin KN, Rising KL, Stephens KA, Spatz ES, Weinstein RA; INSPIRE Group. The association between prolonged SARS-CoV-2 symptoms and work outcomes. PLoS One. 2024 Jul 29;19(7):e0300947. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300947. eCollection 2024.