The Integrated Translational Health Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV), in close collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has developed an online tool to collect COVID-19 related information from volunteers who are residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The iTHRIV research team is led by Don Brown and Johanna Loomba at the University of Virginia (UVA) with guidance provided by a cross-state group of advisors.
The project, titled “COVID and the Commonwealth: an iTHRIV Health Status Registry” aims to fill an information gap by collecting self-reported data from individuals who may be healthy and or convalescing at home. The information collected ranges from simple demographic identifiers to more detailed health and symptom related questions. Additionally, Virginians will have the option to be contacted regarding future volunteer opportunities for COVID-19 related clinical research.
This registry is entirely voluntary and relies on Virginians to self-report. If the health status of an individual changes, they may amend their questionnaire answers. iTHRIV understands the importance of data security. When individuals agree to participate, their personal information will be treated as highly sensitive data and stored securely in the registry at the University of Virginia Health System. Only researchers who have permission can gain access to the data in order to answer important questions about COVID-19. Those researchers will agree to protect health data according to approved security methods.
iTHRIV is a cross-state translational research institute which combines the expertise of clinical translational biomedical researchers and data scientists to create infrastructure and investigator resources for using data to improve health across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Partner sites include University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Carilion Clinic and Inova Health System.
For more information about the NIH CTSA program, see: https://ncats.nih.gov/ctsa.
For more information about iTHRIV, see: http://ithriv.org/.
