COVID-19 Studies
COVID-19 Spotlights Social Determinants of Health The arrival of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus had a profound impact on every aspect of Houston Methodist, challenging us to quickly operationalize a new bioinformatics pipeline to better develop best practices for managing COVID-19 patients, prioritize and facilitate COVID-19 research and learn which persons are most impacted by the pandemic and why. The Center for Outcomes Research met this challenge, devising a data repository that obtained real-time data about COVID-19 patients’ sociodemographics, diagnoses, treatments, suitability for enrollment in clinical trials and outcomes.
With CURATOR,
Houston Methodist Experts Gain Deeper Insight into Real-Time COVID-19 Data Trends The rapid global spread of the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus provided an opportunity for Houston Methodist to establish the infrastructure for a learning health-care system that further merges evidence-based medicine and practice-based evidence. When the pandemic arrived, a cross-departmental big-data team led by Farhaan S. Vahidy, PhD, associate director Farhaan S. Vahidy, PhD
of the Center for Outcomes Research, developed the COVID-19 Surveillance and Outcomes Registry, or CURATOR, to roll out processes for collecting, organizing and analyzing real-time data that’s accessible to research and clinical groups across Houston Methodist. CURATOR has proven to be an invaluable resource for advancing research and optimizing patient care as the pandemic evolves.
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Houston Methodist’s big-data infrastructure and data engineering teams proved to be highly agile and adaptable, which made it possible to establish a robust COVID-19 analytics pipeline in literally weeks. The ability to generate and implement scientific evidence was phenomenal. We consider ourselves battle tested and have confidence in our capacity to respond quickly in the midst of a global pandemic, with the majority of the teams working remotely.
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– Farhaan S. Vahidy, PhD Coneway Family Centennial Endowed Directorship in Quality and Outcomes Associate Director and Associate Professor, Center for Outcomes Research Associate Professor, Neurological Institute Houston Methodist
