Cincinnati Children's is dedicating $450,000 to launch six COVID-19-focused research projects.
A panel of senior research leaders at the health system chose the six projects from a pool of more than 35 proposals, Cincinnati Children's research foundation director Hector Wong, MD, said in a news release.
Here are the six projects the health system is using the funding for.
1. An artificial intelligence tool that uses natural language processing and machine learning to extract risk factor information about COVID-19 from hospital medical records to support early detection of infection and deterioration in pediatric patients.
2. The impact of telehealth on foster youth during the pandemic. Cincinnati Children's psychologists will study how the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted behavioral healthcare for foster children and how telehealth affects care in place of in-person visits.
3. Researchers will attempt to develop a vaccine using nanoparticles from the COVID-19 virus.
4. Study on how the virus interacts with heart tissue at the molecular level to help researchers develop tests and treatments for potential heart complications caused by COVID-19.
5. Study on how the novel coronavirus affects individuals with sickle cell disease. Study participants live in Cincinnati, Africa and the Caribbean.
6. Analysis of how quarantine restrictions and changes due to the pandemic are impacting teenagers both with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and those without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.