Large-Scale Scientific Study Led by a Professional Organization during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Operations, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned

Caitlin R Ondracek; Stacy E F Melanson; Loretta Doan; Karen M Schulz; Stefanie Kleinman; Zhen Zhao; Attila Kumanovics; Alan H B Wu; Joesph Wiencek; Qing H Meng; Fred S Apple; David Koch; Hubert Vesper; Fidelia Pokuah; Janetta Bryksin; Gary L Myers; Robert H Christenson; Y Victoria Zhang

doi:10.1093/jalm/jfad089

Large-Scale Scientific Study Led by a Professional Organization during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Operations, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned

J Appl Lab Med. 2024 Mar 1;9(2):371-385. doi: 10.1093/jalm/jfad089.

Authors

Caitlin R Ondracek¹, Stacy E F Melanson^{2

3}, Loretta Doan¹, Karen M Schulz^{4

5}, Stefanie Kleinman¹, Zhen Zhao⁶, Attila Kumanovics⁷, Alan H B Wu⁸, Joesph Wiencek⁹, Qing H Meng¹⁰, Fred S Apple^{4

5}, David Koch¹¹, Hubert Vesper¹², Fidelia Pokuah¹², Janetta Bryksin¹¹, Gary L Myers¹³, Robert H Christenson¹⁴, Y Victoria Zhang¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine, Washington, DC, United States.
² Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States.
³ Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
⁴ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Hennepin Healthcare/Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
⁵ Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
⁶ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork, NY, United States.
⁷ Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States.
⁸ Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, SanFrancisco, CA, United States.
⁹ Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, United States.
¹⁰ Department of Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.
¹¹ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, United States.
¹² Clinical Standardization Programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health, Atlanta, GA, United States.
¹³ Myers Consulting, Smyrna, GA, United States.
¹⁴ Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, United States.
¹⁵ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, United States.

PMID: 38059919
DOI: 10.1093/jalm/jfad089

Abstract

In 2021, the Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (ADLM) (formerly the American Association for Clinical Chemistry [AACC]) developed a scientific study that aimed to contribute to the understanding of SARS-CoV-2 immunity during the evolving course of the pandemic. This study was led by a group of expert member volunteers and resulted in survey data from 975 individuals and blood collection from 698 of those participants. This paper describes the formulation and execution of this large-scale scientific study, encompassing best practices and insights gained throughout the endeavor.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Chemistry, Clinical
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Societies