COVID-19 RESEARCH CURRENT
n Maarit Tiirikainen , PhD , UH Cancer Center associate professor , is
FACT : LOCALLY , PACIFIC ISLANDERS REPRESENT ONLY 4 PERCENT OF HAWAIʻI ’ S POPULATION , BUT ACCOUNT FOR NEARLY 30 PERCENT OF HAWAIʻI ’ S COVID-19 CASES AND 20 PERCENT OF ALL COVID-19 DEATHS . n working with LifeDNA to better understand why the virus hits certain populations harder than others . This study examines the role of genetics in susceptibility to infection and severity of response , focusing on Hawai ‘ i ’ s multiethnic population and genetic variants of the ACE2 gene .
The UH Cancer Center and our clinical partners have joined a study , led by Vanderbilt University , that is looking into ways in which COVID-19 impacts cancer patients . Jared Acoba , MD , UH Cancer Center assistant professor , serves as the study ’ s local principal investigator . As some patients with cancer may be at increased risk of severe complications or death due to COVID-19 , there is an urgent need to understand the implications of COVID-19 for patients with cancer . Researchers collect information about cancer patients who contract COVID-19 and receive treatment at The Queen ’ s Medical Center , Hawai ‘ i Pacific Health hospitals , Hawai ‘ i Cancer Care , and Hawai ‘ i Oncology Inc . n
The University of Hawai ‘ i received nearly $ 1 million from the National Institutes of Health ’ s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnosis initiative to develop and evaluate community engagement strategies meant to increase testing and to better understand the SARS-CoV-2 infection patterns . Kevin Cassel , DrPH , UH Cancer Center assistant researcher , is part of a transdisciplinary partnership to increase COVID-19 testing uptake among non-Hawaiian Pacific Islanders ( PI ) in Hawai ‘ i and Guam . Across the United States , PI have among the highest rates of contracting and succumbing to COVID-19 .
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