Researchers from Penn State are seeking local participants for a multi-faceted study focused on the effects of COVID-19 on the residents of Centre County.
Scientists from Penn State’s Huck Institutes for Life Sciences, Social Science Research Institute, and Clinical and Translational Science Institute are collaborating on the Centre County COVID-19 Data 4 Action Project, a far-reaching research project that will look both at biological and socio-economic issues associated with the virus on a local level.
A major aspect of the study focuses on immunity and how it might be affected by the sudden influx of a large number of students from all over the world. Participants in this part of the study will be tested for antibodies every quarter at the CTSI Clinical Research Center laboratories on the University Park campus, according to Andrew Read, director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.
“The thing about COVID is that it hits us with no inherent immunity at all,” explained Read. “As infectious disease biologists, we are fascinated by how you go from absolutely no immunity to the sort of immunity that allows measles and flu and things to be relatively minor problems. … Planners need to know what’s happening locally, where you have a relatively small resident population and this enormous population coming in from outside twice a year.”
While individuals’ results will be reported confidentially, they will be sent to participants via email, allowing them to find out if they have been exposed to the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus. So far, 237 local residents have been tested, with two showing antibody positivity.
“Most of us are not immune yet because we have not been exposed, but as the virus moves through the community, then more and more people will see it and become antibody positive,” Read said. “Eventually, we’ll be able to see how many people get a vaccine, what the immune response is like to the vaccine compared to natural immunity, and in both cases, how quickly the antibody levels wane away.
“But even if you’ve never had COVID-19, this virus is affecting your health and well-being in some way, and will for some time,” he said.
That is where the other main aspect of the study comes in, with social scientists looking at the socio-economic impact of COVID on the Centre County community.
“The effective management of this disease is all behavioral, and has broader social and other implications for peoples’ lives,” explained Meg Small, assistant research professor in Health and Human Development working with the Penn State Social Science Research Institute.
An initial survey already shows 95.6 percent of local respondents reporting that the pandemic has either moderately or significantly disrupted their lives, Small said.
“People are really facing challenges out there, and we really want to understand the nature of those,” she said.
This part of the study will look at everything from family dynamics to employment and economic challenges, stress and mental health, and the effects of changes in how education is delivered during this time.
While the study is currently being funded by Penn State until the end of 2020, Read expects the project to continue for several years. Both Read and Small believe that this study will help local leaders in government, education, and health care make decisions about policy and allocation of resources.
While they believe their findings will have implications for other communities who have a similar population — other college towns, resort towns, and towns with military bases, for example — they embarked on this study out of a desire to help their local neighbors.
“We’re all part of this community, too,” Small said. “And when this started, we said, ‘We have this expertise on campus, and we want to use it to benefit the community. But we also want the community to have the opportunity to help inform our science.’
“There’s a sweet spot here where our expertise can really help the community, and the community is in a position to learn from our expertise and also participate. So it’s kind of a win-win,” Read continued.
Individuals who wish to participate in the study should visit data4action.psu.edu and complete a short survey. At the end of the survey, participants can supply contact information if they wish to be considered to take part in further aspects of the project.
The initial cohort will be capped at 2,000 people, and is open to any permanent resident of Centre County over the age of 18. To date, 674 participants have enrolled and 397 samples have been tested. Of the test results, four — about 1%— have a positive antibody test.
Results from the study will be continuously updated on the Data 4 Action website.
