Unprecedented biobanking effort to combat COVID-19

In April 2nd, at the peak of the COVID-19 surge, the Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) announced the launch of an unprecedented biobanking effort to combat COVID-19. The goal was to rapidly collect blood samples from hundreds of COVID-19 patients admitted to MSHS to serve as the backbone for COVID-19 research. Embarking together as healthcare workers and scientists on a bold endeavor was precisely what the moment demanded.

Thanks to a volunteer team of over 100 research staff, nurses, doctors, and scientists, this initiative was a resounding success. Led by the Mount Sinai Clinical Intelligence Center (MSCIC) and the Human Immune Monitoring Center (HIMC), teams were organized for screening electronic medical records, obtaining informed consent, assembling collection kits, performing nurse outreach, transporting specimens, processing samples, biobanking, molecular data generation, bioinformatics analysis, and overall project management. Carried out in a fog-of-war environment, this effort formed a blueprint (1) for implementing large-scale research on COVID-19 patients in a health system under siege. Over a one-month span at the peak of the pandemic, the team enrolled over 700 patients, collected thousands of samples, and have since generated a diverse set of molecular data using state-of-the-art technologies in immunology and genomics.

Now, in collaboration with the MSHS Office of Research Services (ORS), MSCIC and HIMC we are excited to announce that the Mount Sinai community can request access to the Mount Sinai COVID-19 Biobank samples and data. Requests will be fielded by the Mount Sinai COVID-19 Biobank Study Review Committee, which will serve to streamline work efforts, maintain a high quality of research, and promote a culture of resource sharing.

To find out more about Mount Sinai Clinical Intelligence Center, please click HERE.
To find out more about the Human Immune Monitoring Center, please click HERE.

1. Charney, A.W., Simons, N.W., Mouskas, K. et al. Sampling the host response to SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals under siege. Nat Med 26, 1157–1158 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-020-1004-3