FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     

November 11, 2020

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Jill Vondrasek, Michigan State University Division of Public Health, 810-600-9185, vondras4@msu.edu;
Todd Lucas, Michigan State University Division of Public Health, 810-600-5629, lucastod@msu.edu.

Addressing COVID-19 Racial Disparities in Flint with $1.2M NIH Grant

FLINT, Mich. – A team of Michigan State University researchers and their partners are
leading a study with a pair of formidable goals: communicating effectively about the
value of COVID-19 antibody testing and better understanding why COVID-19 causes a
disproportionate number of African Americans to suffer severe cases and deaths.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced it will fund the study led by Todd
Lucas, PhD, a Flint-based C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health in the College
of Human Medicine. The project is part of the NIH Serological Sciences Network for
COVID-19 (SeroNet) initiative, made possible by an over $300 million emergency
appropriation to the National Cancer Institute. The appropriation's goal is to address the
urgent need to understand immune responses to the novel coronavirus. The Michigan
State University-led team proposed a five-year study $3.8 million project and have thus
far been awarded over $1.2 million for the first phase, which will take place over two
years.

In partnership with the Flint Community Based Organizations and Partners (CBOP), the
Michigan State University research team plans to produce brief video tutorials about the
potential value of antibody testing in the fight against COVID-19, which will be
disseminated to the Flint community. The study will also furnish home-based collection
kits to gather saliva samples from willing study participants. In partnership with the
Environmental Health, Microbiology, and Immunology Lab (EHMIL) at Johns Hopkins
University, saliva samples will be analyzed to measure the presence of SARS-CoV-2
antibodies. In partnership with Salimetrics – an international leader in salivary
bioscience – saliva samples will also be used to measure a panel of over a dozen
inflammation biomarkers that might be linked to SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Ultimately,
the researchers hope to address racial disparities in COVID-19 by identifying ways to
communicate effectively about the value of antibody testing and a better understanding
of the potential role of inflammation in COVID-19.

“COVID-19 has made clear that racial health disparities continue to plague this country,”
Lucas said. “We can potentially learn a lot about COVID-19 disparities and, hopefully,
better address them by understanding SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, including how these
antibodies might be connected to inflammation in the body. But doing so will require
developing strategies to talk effectively about the need for and value of antibody
testing.”

African Americans makeup 14 percent of Michigan’s population but account for more
than 33 percent of the state’s coronavirus cases and 40 percent of its deaths. Recruiting
African Americans for medical studies and clinical trials is often challenging, due in part
to historical distrust of the medical profession. Yet, African American participation in
antibody surveillance studies is vital to addressing ongoing COVID-19 disparities.

Study participants will be recruited through the Flint Registry – a CDC-funded initiative
spearheaded by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha in response to the Flint water crisis, which
aims to connect affected Flint residents to available resources and support.

While the study initially will focus on Flint, results will inform the parallel efforts of other
SeroNet-funded researchers in real-time. Study results may also produce insights for
effectively conducting antibody surveillance on a broader scale, potentially including
statewide and beyond.

In addition to Lucas, the Michigan State University research team includes Kent Key, PhD; Debra Furr-
Holden, PhD; Nicole Jones, PhD; Nigel Paneth, MD; Maria Lapinski, PhD; and Ahnalee Brincks, PhD.
Douglas Granger, PhD, at Salimetrics, and Christopher Heaney, PhD, at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health also are helping with the study, which is supported by the National Cancer
Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U01CA260469. The content is solely
the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National
Institutes of Health.

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Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for 160 years. One of
the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the
world’s most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic
community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges. 
 
Established in March 2015, the  MSU College of Human Medicine’s Division of Public Health addresses both
immediate and long-term public health needs of Flint residents. With the support of $60+ million in external funding,
emphasis is on health disparities and health equity solutions. Spartans work side-by-side with community partners
and health care providers to encourage healthy behaviors, mitigate chronic diseases, identify environmental health
risks, and examine the social factors that influence community health. 
 
For MSU Public Health news on the Web, go to MSU Public Health News. Follow MSU Public Health on Twitter
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