The Center for Precision Medicine joins $15 million NC COVID-19 surveillance program

Congratulations to Dr. Kim Reeves and co-investigators Dr. Greg Hawkins and Dr. Laura Cox for receiving a $1.8 million grant from the North Carolina DHHS and the NC Policy Collaboracy as part of the North Carolina CORVASEQ (Coronavirus Variant Sequencing) Initiative. As part of the effort, Dr. Reeves will oversee the sequence analysis of SARS-CoV-2 isolates collected across the state of North Carolina to monitor the mergence and spread of virus variants in our state.

Researchers at the Center for Precision Medicine have been awarded funding to join a statewide effort to increase the capacity for genomic sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and monitor the emergence and spread of virus variants in North Carolina. The North Carolina CORVASEQ (Coronavirus Variant Sequencing) Initiative is a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the NC Policy Collaboratory which aims to create a SARS-CoV-2 sequencing network across the state.

In March 2021, the North Carolina General Assembly appropriated $15 million to the CORVASEQ surveillance effort across several NC academic institutions. A research team at the Center for Precision Medicine, led by principle investigator Dr. Kimberly Reeves, Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine/Section on Molecular Medicine, received $1.8 million for the sequencing effort. Wake Forest Baptist Health will serve as an Enrollment Site and Sequencing Center for CORVASEQ under the direction of Dr. Reeves. SARS-CoV-2 samples will also be collected at Atrium Health Charlotte led by Dr. Mindy Sampson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine/Section on Infectious Diseases, who received an additional $733,500 in CORVASEQ funding to provide clinical samples for sequencing in Dr. Reeves’ laboratory. 

The surveillance infrastructure being created by CORVASEQ is an important move toward increasing our understanding of the spread of SARS-CoV-2. The multi-institution network is designed to capture samples from all 100 NC counties, assuring that every part of the state is represented and monitored to provide a clear picture of Covid-19 presence. This sequencing effort will be able to identify variant strains and speed up the detection of potential new outbreaks. CORVASEQ will provide regular sequencing reports to NC DHHS to help with accurate tracking of cases and variants across the state. 

In addition to Dr. Kimberly Reeves, the team at the Center for Precision Medicine includes Dr. Greg Hawkins, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Dr. Laura Cox, Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine/Section on Molecular Medicine, Dr. John Sanders, Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine/Section on Infectious Disease, Dr. Elizabeth Palavecino, Professor in the Department of Pathology, and Dr. Werner Bischoff, Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. 

The CORVASEQ network combines multiple academic and healthcare institutions including the Wake Forest School of Medicine, Duke University, East Carolina University, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, Atrium Health, HCA Healthcare, Novant Health, Vidant and the VA System.

In addition to benefits in the understanding the spread of Covid-19, an established CORVASEQ network prepares NC researchers and clinicians to combat future virological outbreaks and other epidemiological challenges that the state will likely face at some point in the future.  For more information, please see https://www.wraltechwire.com/2021/07/22/unc-will-lead-15m-covid-19-variant-surveillance-program-in-nc/.