MURDOCK Study to use Cabarrus County volunteers to track COVID-19’s spread

Duke University researchers will track the health of hundreds of Cabarrus County volunteers as part of a new COVID-19 research project to better understand asymptomatic spread of the virus and the effectiveness of public health policies.

The volunteers will be drawn from the ongoing MURDOCK Study, a Kannapolis-based health initiative that launched in 2007 with $35 million from California billionaire David Murdock. The initiative now includes more than 12,500 participants who participate in studies focused on specific diseases or health conditions.

Enrollment for the project opened June 9, and the study has already begun recruiting participants who will take biweekly surveys about their health.

Researchers will also choose a subgroup to undergo regular nasal swabs to test for COVID-19 and collect blood samples to detect the presence of antibodies. The study will last at least six months, and researchers hope to later extend the time frame to nine months or a year to collect more data.

The state Department of Health and Human Services partnered with the Duke’s medical school to launch the project and learn more about the prevalence of COVID-19 and how it changes over time as the state starts to reopen. DHHS is also collaborating with other North Carolina universities including UNC Chapel Hill and East Carolina University on similar studies in other counties.

Using MURDOCK Study participants for the COVID-19 project helps researchers because since the participants will already be familiar with the way medical research works, according to co-principal investigator Dr. Chris Woods. Researchers will also have access to basic medical information that participants have already submitted to MURDOCK, such as whether they have any diseases that could make them vulnerable to the virus.

“The real benefit here is that you’ve got this long-standing relationship in the community through the MURDOCK cohort where you have existing relationships with a very large number of individuals who understand the benefit of engaging in research questions,” Woods said. “They are committed to seeing these types of things through.”

Researchers hope to have at least 1,500 participants in the COVID-19 study, and will then choose 300 to 500 people to take part in regular coronavirus and antibody testing. Collected over several months, that data will allow scientists to study the virus from multiple perspectives, according to principal investigator Dr. Kristin Newby. Of particular interest is how the virus spreads without showing symptoms.

“There appears to be a period where there can be asymptomatic or very mildly symptomatic individuals who can shed the virus and spread the infection. So understanding that is critical to thinking about our mitigation strategies,” Newby said.

Scientists will also be able to study whether antibodies produced by the body after contracting the virus persist, how the virus affects different segments of the population, and how people’s everyday behaviors change over the duration of the pandemic. The research could guide future public policy decisions.

The COVID-19 study is different from other MURDOCK studies in that researchers will have to develop new strategies to conduct research remotely, Newby said. For example, scientists will have to train some participants to accurately collect their own nasal swabs.

“I think it will open up new avenues for doing research in the future where you could envision participants collecting their own blood at home and swabs and other stuff,” Newby said. “I think it’s going to change how we think about doing these kinds of studies where fewer visits are actually needed.”

Participants still needed

The study is currently still recruiting participants, a process that will last approximately a month. Some participants who have already signed up said they decided to do so in the hope that the data they contribute will help scientists combat the disease.

Concord resident Michael Pierce, who is African American, said he is participating because he has personally seen the devastation that the coronavirus has had on Black communities. A recent set of surveys conducted between April and June found that African Americans are disproportionately likely to say a family member or close friend has died of the virus.

“I have family members and friends who have lost loved ones or had loved ones test positive for COVID and recover,” Pierce said. “I’ve seen the impact COVID has had on African Americans.”

Another participant, Kannapolis resident Veleria Levy, said that as an African American woman, she joined the project for the same reason. She added that she believes the study is not only important in the scientific knowledge it might generate, but could also lead to the public becoming better educated about the realities of the disease.

“Right now, people are acting like COVID-19 is just a cold, and it’s really sad,” Levy said. “I’m hoping this will definitely combat the misinformation that’s being spread throughout social media and everywhere else.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 1:44 PM.