Hope Amidst Uncertainty: COVID-19 Initiatives

Victor E. Clarke Miami Cancer Institute Charitable Foundation2019 – 2020 2019 IMPACT REPORT Highlights

Hope Amidst Uncertainty: COVID-19 Initiatives

As scientists across the world race to find effective ways to prevent, diagnose and treat COVID19, Miami Cancer Institute is playing a key role, spearheading many unique projects for its patients, staff and the community to fight this virus and find a cure.

COVID-19 Testing: The FDA has granted Emergency Use Authorization to the Molecular Diagnostic Lab at Miami Cancer Institute to perform COVID-19 tests in-house. One of only 12 in-hospital labs to receive the approval, patients and employees can be tested and receive results in under 24 hours, allowing the team to make treatment decisions quickly and quarantine appropriately.

Clinical Trials: The Institute is participating in COVID-19 clinical trials that will test scientific approaches while pursuing promising treatments as they emerge. Over $695,000 has been raised for COVID-19 related trials. Studies include:

• The use of convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients to treat those who are ill, in hopes that antibodies present in survivors can fight the virus and improve outcomes in infected patients. • Together with Florida International University’s Wertheim

College of Medicine, the Institute is collecting blood from consented COVID-19 patients to evaluate peripheral blood lymphocyte kinetics in patients with the COVID-19 infection.

• The use of mesenchymal stem cells, a type of umbilical cord blood cell known for its ability to prevent the severe lung inflammation common in very ill COVID-19 patients.

This game-changing treatment reunited Ruthie Ramirez, a member of the Radiation Oncology team at Miami Cancer

Institute, with her family after weeks in the hospital and in the ICU. Ruthie is one of the first COVID-19 patients in the U.S. successfully treated with umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

The generosity of our donors has supported the needs of our healthcare staff and the community during this critical time. Polo for Life recently presented Miami Cancer Institute with a generous gift, of which a large portion has been allocated to Baptist Health Foundation's COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund to immediately assist patients, families and our healthcare heroes providing expert care on the front lines. Their gift also will contribute to Miami Cancer Institute' state-of-the-art pediatric proton therapy program.