Researchers aim to better understand COVID-19 in students with IDDs

Researchers aim to better understand COVID-19 in students with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester are working to better understand how COVID-19 impacts students and staff in schools that serve students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The $4 million project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics- Underserved Populations (RADx-UP), will allow researchers to work with students and staff at the Mary Cariola Center School in Rochester to study how COVID-19 spreads in the vulnerable population the agency serves.

“Understanding how to best test this population and how COVID spreads in group settings is imperative to keeping those with an IDD safe,” said John Foxe, Ph.D., Director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, and co-principal investigator of the study. “Ultimately, this study will have major implications for schools across the United States and specifically for schools that serve vulnerable students.”

Foxe is one of three principal investigators leading this study. Martin Zand, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of Clinical & Translational Science Institute and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the Medical Center, and Stephen Dewhurst, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Research at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, are also principal investigators.

According to the NIH, a non-vaccinated person with intellectual and developmental disabilities is four-times more likely to contract COVID-19 and eight-times more likely to die from the virus than someone without an IDD. It is also a population that is difficult to test with effective procedures.

This study will allow researchers to rapidly identify initial infections, antigen levels, and through isolating and contact-tracing stop the spread of infection in school settings. In addition to researchers testing on all three Mary Cariola School campuses, they will also utilize a dedicated vehicle to travel between the school and students' homes, to test and track anyone who tests positive.

Last spring, the NIH designated the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience as one of 16 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers in the county.