An international team of experts conducted a multi-laboratory evaluation of 21 commercial high-throughput assays used in laboratories to determine whether someone has antibodies to SARS CoV-2 proteins, using 1,000 blood-donor samples. CITF Testing Working Party Lead Dr. Mel Krajden and Testing Working Party member Dr. Steven Kleinman were among the experts involved. Some assays [...]
This commentary From Dr. David Savitz and CITF-funded researcher Dr. Deshayne Fell outlines specific methods that should be implemented in research to more effectively assess the risk of severe COVID-19 among pregnant individuals. The article touches upon methodological challenges including increased surveillance, enhanced clinical responses to illness, and confounding. It also gives an overview [...]
In a recent Short Communication in Preventive Medicine, CITF Leadership Group member Dr. Gina Ogilvie, CITF-funded researcher Dr. Daniel Grace and colleagues explore the mental health of sexual health service clients, an example of a marginalized community. They found that 55% of respondents self-rated their mental health as being poor at the beginning of [...]
A study by researchers at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with CITF-funded researcher Dr. Sasha Bernatsky from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, observed that people with autoimmune diseases had the same proportion of SARS-CoV-2 positive tests and a similar disease incidence compared to the general population in 2020. However, [...]
Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 or who have received SARS-CoV-2 vaccines (mRNA or adenovirus-based) have been shown to have virus-neutralizing activity in their saliva. These results appeared in a recent pre-print, therefore not yet peer reviewed, directed by scientists from Stanford University School of Medicine, with contributions from CITF-funded researchers Drs. Jennifer Gommerman, [...]
In a preprint that has not been peer-reviewed, CITF Leadership Group member Dr. Mel Krajden and colleagues sought to identify factors associated with COVID-19 hospitalization by looking at all individuals with lab-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 in British Columbia as of January 15, 2021. Of all factors identified, it is one of the first reports linking mental [...]
In their recent pre-print, not yet peer-reviewed, CITF Leadership Group member Dr. Gina Ogilvie, VSRG Working Group member Dr. Manish Sadarangani and colleagues in British Columbia explored COVID-19 vaccination intention among women and gender diverse individuals living with HIV. The authors report that the intention to get a vaccine in these groups was significantly [...]
A collaborative effort of over 150 scientists from over 20 countries, including CITF-funded researcher Dr. Donald Vinh from McGill University Health Centre and the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, has led to the identification of a surprisingly high prevalence of a type of antibody that has been linked to fatal outcomes [...]
In a publication led by Dr. David Fisman from the University of Toronto in the Annals of Internal Medicine, CITF-funded researcher Dr. Sheila O’Brien and CITF Testing Working Party member Dr. Steven Drews, both from Canadian Blood Services, worked with colleagues from the University of Toronto and the University of Guelph and found that [...]
Investigators from the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN), including CITF-funded researchers Drs. Jeffrey Kwong and Kumanan Wilson, provided epidemiological baseline rates of mortality and hospitalization to study COVID-19 outcomes in nursing home residents in Ontario. In a manuscript recently published in Vaccines, the researchers noted that the end of 2020 marked a return to [...]