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Patient Reps Power PCORnet’s Steering Committee: A Q&A With Nadine Zemon

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Nadine Zemon can be described as a natural explorer, someone who has sought out new insights and experiences throughout her life. She now brings that relentless curiosity to PCORnet in her role as the newest patient representative on the PCORnet Steering Committee. Never one to be boxed into a single interest area, Nadine spent her younger years exploring dual passions: art and medicine. She has worked as a pediatric emergency room nurse, managed an employee health unit and, with an interest in integrative medicine, practiced massage therapy that incorporated guided imagery techniques of psychosynthesis. Her longtime interest in art led to an appreciation for the value of the arts in medicine and to becoming a graphic designer later in life. Now, Nadine is using her voice on the Committee to infuse the patient perspective into PCORnet-enabled work. Here’s her perspective on this role and why it matters:

What sparked your interest in clinical research?

My mother died of rheumatic heart disease when I was a teenager, which was made all the more tragic because of the fact that she suffered greatly due to a lack of available treatments. As time went on and cardiac care evolved, I marveled at how much more we know now versus then. It made a strong imprint on me about the power of clinical research. My mother’s quality of life could have been completely different if she had experienced her disease today as opposed to 50 years ago. How much more can we help patients 50 years from today?

How did you get involved in clinical research?

I heard about patient-centered research from a friend who was forming the first Citizen Scientists group at the University of Florida. I learned the program was recruiting patients to be involved with the Translational Science program, and I decided to sign up. At the time, the concept of patients having a seat at the research table was so novel, and yet it also made so much sense. I was excited to take part.

What excites you about PCORnet?

The whole idea of patient-centered research excites me. This notion that we should have symbiotic relationships between patients, providers, and researchers feels like it could be a pathway to a whole new era of therapeutic development—one that transforms the “old school” way of conducting research in the best way possible.

How has your role changed as a patient representative in clinical research?

When I first started participating in research, I often doubted my instincts. For example, I might think I was the only one who didn’t understand something, so I wouldn’t speak up. Over time, I’ve learned that if I don’t understand it, most other patients probably won’t either. My voice has become much stronger, and as part of the PCORnet Steering Committee, the patient representatives have actually formalized the process of identifying confusing topics and presenting them to the other Committee members. After each weekly Steering Committee meeting, the patient representatives meet to list areas where we—and the patient community at large—will need more clarity. The Committee is always receptive to this feedback. It is a big part of the value we bring and why we are here!

How do you see the PCORnet Steering Committee evolving in the coming years? 

Now that we patient representatives have found our footing on the Steering Committee, we want to find better ways to communicate with other current or prospective patient reps. We are launching a pilot project to connect with patient partners at Clinical Research Networks to open the communication channels. We want to know their thoughts on PCORnet and the Steering Committee, and we also want to share ways they can get involved in research. Our hope is that by starting these conversations, we can engage with new ideas and maybe even inspire the influential patient representatives of the future.

What would you like other patients looking to engage in research to know? 

We need your voice in research, and there are so many ways to get involved. Also, you don’t have to have a medical degree to be an effective patient representative; you just have to be willing to share you perspective toward the betterment of research.

Clinical Trials In The Era Of COVID-19: How PREVENTABLE’s Pragmatic Design Is Helping It Power Through The Pandemic

Posted on by Jodi Snare

With shelter in place and travel bans disrupting traditional clinical research, many teams are adopting new strategies to keep patients safe and studies progressing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. But PREVENTABLE, a study using the PCORnet® infrastructure to investigate whether taking a drug commonly used to lower cholesterol can help adults aged 75 and older prevent dementia, disability, and heart disease, needed no such overhaul. That’s because it was designed pragmatically from the start, a strategy that gave it the flexibility to weather the pandemic with minimal disruption.

“With PREVENTABLE, we are recruiting 20,000 patients aged 75 or older who we know have common barriers to participation in clinical trials like transportation obstacles, caregiver burden, and medical concerns,” said Schuyler Jones, who is helping lead the recruitment core for the study. “Designing the study in a way that makes research participation easier and more efficient for these participants was a top priority for us. When the pandemic hit and all of these barriers were exacerbated, we were ahead of the curve. There were very few areas to facilitate participation that we hadn’t already thought through on the front end.”

PREVENTABLE had to make only one amendment in response to COVID-19: adding a telehealth option to a previously required on-site visit. The rest of the study was already designed to make participation easy. For example, participants are identified and invited to be a part of the study via PCORnet and the VA Network, both of which have strong ties to the 75-plus community. Researchers then follow participants by phone visits, using electronic health records, the PCORnet Common Data Model, and Medicare data. The study drug is shipped directly to patients’ homes every three months, making participation especially appealing to older adults.

PCORnet as a resource for pragmatic success

PCORnet is central to the PREVENTABLE study’s pragmatic design. Thirty-two of the trial’s sites are affiliated with PCORnet Network Partners, and as the study moves ahead with site activation and enrollment, these relationships and PCORnet’s established infrastructure are key.

“We think of our PCORnet sites as the massive C-5 transport planes of PREVENTABLE,” said Karen Alexander, a principal investigator for PREVENTABLE, referring to the aircraft the U.S. military relies on for carrying large loads. “Once they leave the runway and take off, they will carry a tremendous proportion of our study’s participants and give us a lot of momentum toward successful completion of this research.”

Few studies are focused exclusively on participants aged 75 or older, making PREVENTABLE’s research important to this community. Statins, which are taken by nearly half of Americans who are over the age of 75, have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events for some patients, but we don’t yet know whether they are helpful for older adults without heart disease.

While PCORnet-affiliated sites and data resources are important aspects of PREVENTABLE, so too is the expertise embedded in the PCORnet community. The study is tapping lessons learned and strategies that proved successful in ADAPTABLE, a PCORnet-enabled pragmatic study of aspirin dosing in individuals with heart disease. These lessons have informed PREVENTABLE’s recent outreach efforts to boost enrollment, including mention in a newly published New York Times article, AARP publications, and local senior guides. In response to feedback that the 75-plus community wanted endorsement of the study by their trusted general practitioner, the PREVENTABLE team has worked to make contact with physicians in advance of visits from potential participants.

“Good pragmatic research is about showing effectiveness of an intervention in real-world clinical practice among broad patient groups, and that requires us to meet patients where they are and be flexible and anticipatory to their needs,” said Jones. “Many of the strategies we are deploying with PREVENTABLE can help fortify research protocols, not only to safeguard them in a pandemic, but through any disruption.”

PCORnet® Experts Join NAM and PCORI to Improve Data Sharing

Posted on by Jodi Snare

In the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to optimize health data sharing has become strikingly pronounced. As our understanding of the novel coronavirus evolves, we are reliant on patient- and consumer-reported data to track transmission, understand risk factors for disease, and accelerate the pace of developing a cure—but data sharing in the United States is far from perfect. Recently, several leaders affiliated with PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, joined other experts convened by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to identify barriers and propose actions to improve health data sharing. Their report, “Health Data Sharing to Support Better Outcomes: Building a Foundation of Stakeholder Trust,” was just published, and it offers an enlightening look at the existing barriers to sharing data and how we can build trust, support, and demand across stakeholder groups to address them.

Several PCORnet-affiliated leaders participated in the effort, either on the Steering Committee or in convening workgroups to inform chapters of the report. They are:

  • Adrian Hernandez, Duke University Medical Center and Duke Clinical Research Institute
  • Rainu Kaushal, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center
  • Richard Platt, Harvard University and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute
  • Russell Rothman, Vanderbilt University

In their effort to accelerate better data sharing, these PCORnet leaders worked in tandem with NAM and PCORI to facilitate conversations with three stakeholder communities: leaders from provider organizations, health care delivery systems, and health plans; researchers and research oversight leaders; and patient and family leaders. The publication summarizes these discussions, with specific attention to the overall vision of these stakeholders for a data-sharing health system, barriers and mitigation suggestions, and overlapping themes for how we can improve data sharing, linkage, and use in the coming years.

PCORnet was noted in the publication as a successful example of data sharing in the research community. The authors also wrote that one action step to help establish trust between data providers and data users is, “to forge national collaborations among health systems, clinical registries, and researchers to determine how data will be used.” Specifically, they noted that, “existing networks could be used to leverage such collaborations, such as the Food and Drug Administration’s Sentinel Network, the eHealth Exchange, or PCORnet.”

The publication’s authors hope that putting these learnings into practice will move our nation closer to achieving the vision of a continuously learning health system and improving health and health care outcomes for all.

How Are Data Tools Improving Pediatric Care? PCORnet® Is Part Of The Answer

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Chris Forrest, PCORnet® Steering Committee member and principal investigator for PEDSnet, a PCORnet Network Partner, recently participated in a webinar hosted by U.S. News and World Report entitled “Improving Pediatric Care: How New Data Tools Are Moving the Needle.” The webinar was an exploration of the opportunities for children’s hospitals to use (and share) data to do a faster and more accurate job of diagnosing and treating patients while also improving safety and efficiency. Forrest cited PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, as an important tool for addressing pediatric challenges and identifying trends over time.

“PCORnet can offer researchers insights from the health records of more than 70 million Americans,” said Forrest on the webinar. He cited as an example that if a researcher wanted to enroll 20,000 kids who have been infected with COVID-19 in a study to explore their phenotypes over the long term, PCORnet can help. The Network offers a breadth of data not available at a single institution, making it a valuable resource for researchers.

Forrest also noted the importance of engaging patients and caregivers to better deploy data tools and move the needle for pediatric research. Patient engagement is a central component of all PCORnet-enabled research.

“We have established regulatory agreements and institutional trust for a national learning collaborative, but we also need to have conversations with families to earn the public’s trust around the bold new ways we can use their data,” he said. “To bring the larger vision of data and technology to life, that bedrock of trust with communities is essential.”

Forrest shared the webinar panel with several other experts:

  • Anthony Chang, Chief Intelligence and Innovation Officer, Children’s Hospital of Orange County
  • Kathy J. Jenkins, Executive Director, Center for Applied Pediatric Quality Analytics, Boston Children’s Hospital
  • Anthony Oliva, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Healthcare Division, Nuance

Watch the webinar in full at U.S. News and World Report’s events page.

MedWeight Study Uses PCORnet® to Assess Medication-Induced Weight Gain

Posted on by Jodi Snare

Medication-induced weight gain is a common challenge and often triggers concerns among patients who want to know if and how much weight they might gain if they take certain drugs. MedWeight, a PCORnet® Study, was launched to provide evidence that will help determine which medications contribute to weight gain and how much. Providing this evidence will help patients make better-informed choices that could lead to improved health outcomes. The study team is collaborating with three Network Partners of PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, to conduct the study, which will be the most comprehensive assessment to date of the risks of weight gain associated with taking certain drugs.

“Patients consistently flag concerns about weight gain from commonly prescribed medications as a reason for non-adherence, and yet there are still significant knowledge gaps around which medications contribute the most to weight gain and what role, if any, specific patient characteristics play in weight fluctuations,” said Jason Block, principal investigator of study. “Our goal with MedWeight is to fill in these gaps, offering patients and their clinicians data-driven insights into what they can expect from their medications so they can choose carefully and adhere with confidence.”

The study will include both children and adults and involve separate evaluations of the the five medication classes, comparing effects between subclasses and commonly prescribed individual medications. The MedWeight team will examine the medical records of the children and adults within each class up to 10.5 years after initiating treatment to evaluate how different drugs affected the weight of different types of people.

Deep patient involvement

PCORnet Network Partners PedsNet, OneFlorida, and STAR are the collaborating Clinical Research Networks (CRNs) on the MedWeight Study. From each CRN, a designated patient representative serves in a leadership role on the MedWeight team, advising on all project components from protocol design to dissemination.

“MedWeight is a study inspired by patient feedback, and their input is critical in the development and execution of the work,” said Block. “Once the study is complete, we hope to disseminate our results in a way that is helpful to patients and clinicians. We intend to develop an educational document for patients and providers to help guide choices. The patient perspective on how we disseminate results will be a critical component of this work.”

Patient partners have been with MedWeight from day one. In fact, many of them previously worked on other PCORnet observational studies on obesity and will carry forward lessons learned from those projects to MedWeight.

“Patient partners from our past work in obesity were huge proponents for MedWeight, and our work on the prior observational studies set the stage for us to carry out this new study on medications and weight,” said Block. “The extensive data curation and exploration of available data those studies required are assets that will allow us to hit the ground running with the MedWeight study.”

MedWeight is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The MedWeight team expects to have initial data characterization established in autumn 2020, with an estimated completion date of spring 2023.

Is There a Connection Between COVID-19 and Popular Hypertension Medications?

Posted on by Jodi Snare

PCORnet® Study Comparing Blood Pressure Control Strategies Seeks Answers

During the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers are using PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, to support several efforts to rapidly inform the nation’s response to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The PCORnet Study, “Using PCORnet to Compare Blood Pressure Control Strategies,” is leveraging a broad cohort of hypertensive patients to better understand what, if any, connection exists between the use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers and incidence and severity of a COVID-19 infection.

This effort is an enhancement to a study that was already underway with funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The research team recognized the opportunity to capitalize on the work and resources they had built during their study to answer an important question about the coronavirus’s effects on people with heart disease. They received supplemental funding from PCORI to pursue this additional aim.

“Millions of people around the world use ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers for blood pressure control, and early concerns exist that the novel coronavirus may enter human cells through receptors that increase with the use of these medications, making those patients more susceptible,” said Rhonda Cooper-DeHoff, co-principal investigator of the study from the University of Florida College of Pharmacy. “Because of the research-ready infrastructure created through PCORnet, our study team was able to expand our aims to rapidly explore this concern.”

PCORnet is a network of networks with fast access to secure, curated data from millions of patients across the largest health systems in the United States, making it a powerful resource for the rapid insights needed in a pandemic environment. Cooper-DeHoff’s study team is drawing on electronic health record data from 1.5 million patients to explore whether there is a statistically significant relationship between the use of blood pressure medications and incidence or severity of coronavirus infection. The PCORnet Common Data Model, which standardizes data across each PCORnet Network Partner, is structured to enable the team to quickly classify detailed medication use, as well as other important patient insights like underlying conditions and comorbidities.

“The robust infrastructure of PCORnet, and particularly the Common Data Model that unites millions of disparate data points so they are usable and meaningful for research, is giving us a significant head start in our search for answers,” said Mark Pletcher, from UCSF, co-Principal Investigator. “In a traditional clinical study, these types of efforts can take years. That’s time we don’t have in a pandemic environment, where we need answers fast.”

Results from this study are expected in late 2020.

A comparison of blood pressure control strategies

Prior to receiving the supplemental funding, “Using PCORnet to Compare Blood Pressure Control Strategies” was focused on three other aims anticipated to give meaningful answers to questions that are important to patients. Pletcher and Cooper-DeHoff also hopes the framework for the study, the PCORnet Blood Pressure Control Laboratory, will serve as a platform used in future research to improve surveillance of patients with hypertension and enhance comparative effectiveness research on the topic.

The first study aim, BP Track, is to conduct national surveillance of blood pressure control with a goal to understand disparities. BP MAP, the second aim, is a cluster-randomized trial comparing two versions of a blood control quality improvement intervention from the American Medical Association. Finally, BP Home is a patient-level randomized trial comparing standard home blood pressure monitoring with a smartphone-linked blood pressure monitoring system. Details of each of these efforts, as well as interim results, have been published at Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

“The broad scope of PCORnet means that, unlike many studies of blood pressure control, we are working with a sample that represents the full spectrum of the country,” said Pletcher. “What’s more exciting is that it won’t end with these aims; the PCORnet Blood Pressure Control Laboratory is designed to be a reusable platform to help us pinpoint the health care processes related to blood pressure control that need improvement, learn from high-performing health systems, and better understand how to improve blood pressure control and adherence in our patient communities.”

Patients at the heart of every effort

Every PCORnet Study demonstrates patient engagement in all study aspects and commits to disseminating study progress, metrics, best practices, and results across the Network and in relevant patient communities. “Using PCORnet to Compare Blood Pressure Control Strategies” is no exception, with the University of California San Francisco’s Health Research Alliance of patients engaged in the process. These patients serve on the study’s advisory board for all aims, offering input on materials and methods, dissemination, and more.

“Blood pressure control is part of the daily health regimen for millions of Americans, which makes patient input in this study absolutely crucial,” said Pletcher. “With their guidance, we can ensure that we not only explore the right questions, but also deliver answers to the community in a way that is well received and impactful to our national health.”

Full results from BP Track, BP MAP, and BP Home are all expected late summer 2021.

PCORnet® Gives Reason to Celebrate Connection and Community this Clinical Trials Day

Posted on by Jodi Snare

As COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, keeping many across the world at home and disconnected from their communities, PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, is rallying to build coalitions and deliver hope. May 20 is Clinical Trials Day, a time to remember that clinical research has always been about bringing together people to build a healthier world—and in the era of COVID-19, patient engagement in research is more important than ever.

May 20 is commemorates the day James Lind performed the first-ever clinical trial in 1747, which was focused on scurvy. While it is a day to applaud Lind’s work in paving the way for future clinical trials, it is also fitting to celebrate the communities—clinicians, health systems, patients, and caregivers—who have propelled medical innovations forward since that time. Collaborative research has disarmed numerous diseases that were once a threat to global survival, but today are largely contained. Now, research is tackling the challenge of COVID-19, and PCORnet is enabling two opportunities for communities to come together to find answers.

  • The Healthcare Worker Exposure Response & Outcomes (HERO) Registry is a large, national clinical research community. It invites healthcare workers across America to share clinical and life experiences to understand the perspectives and problems they face on the COVID-19 pandemic front lines.
  • Those registered in the HERO Registry may have the opportunity to participate in HERO-HCQ, a randomized clinical trial of approximately 15,000 HERO Registry participants. It will test whether hydroxychloroquine can prevent COVID-19 infection in healthcare workers.

While there is still much unknown about the novel coronavirus, one thing is clear: clinical research is the best hope for answers. This Clinical Trials Day, celebrate the power of community, and if you are someone working in a healthcare setting that is caring for people with COVID-19, consider participating in the HERO registry by following the registry link above.

PCORnet® COVID-19 Common Data Model Launched, Enabling Rapid Capture of Insights on Patients Infected with the Novel Coronavirus

Posted on by Jodi Snare

COVID-19 has upended life globally, and the need for patient-centered insights and answers has never been more pronounced. Leadership of PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, is responding with bold action by creating a COVID-19-specific Common Data Model (CDM). The new CDM will allow researchers to use information gathered from patients across PCORnet’s vast network to better define and understand who is getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 and how the virus affects them.

“PCORnet is one of very few data resources with the scope and infrastructure to support the nation’s needs for fast answers to important questions during this pandemic,” said Keith Marsolo, who is co-leading the development of the CDM. “We are unleashing the Network’s full potential to combat this crisis, and that includes the development of a COVID-19-specific CDM that transforms data across the Network into a research-ready state to power critical studies and rapidly inform the nation’s response.”

CDMs standardize millions of data points generated from patient visits at clinics and hospitals into a common language that can be used for research while securely protecting personal patient information behind firewalls. Development of a CDM specific to COVID-19 is important because a lot of the existing data on patients with COVID-19 has come from varied sources, which lack the rich clinical details that the research community needs to determine the best response to this pandemic.

“Patients are seeking meaningful answers to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that is going to require an in-depth look at who this virus infects, how it spreads, and how it responds to treatment,” said Pastor Bruce Hanson, patient advocate. “This new CDM enabled by PCORnet will set the stage for that type of research, unlocking details that will empower our nation to address the pandemic as swiftly and accurately as possible.”

To ensure they are keeping pace with the fast-moving pandemic, hospitals and clinics within PCORnet networks are updating their data weekly for patients with a respiratory illness or lab order for a COVID-19 test. They will use that data to better understand the characteristics COVID-19 patients share, allowing researchers to more quickly identify infected patients and understand their experience with the virus. With new symptoms of COVID-19 coming to light on a near-daily basis, the insights from these data will be important to help fight the pandemic.

“While the immediate goal of the PCORnet COVID-19 CDM is to quickly initiate a basic snapshot of infected patients, the CDM’s long-term potential is much more exciting,” said Jason Block, who is co-leading the effort to better define COVID-19 using data accessible from the Network. “As we evolve the CDM, we will be able to characterize COVID-19 patients over time for more in-depth analyses across the disease course.”

PCORnet®-Enabled HERO Registry Launched, Unites Frontline Healthcare Workers to Fight COVID-19

Posted on by Jodi Snare

The Healthcare Worker Exposure Response & Outcomes (HERO) Registry launched today, marking the first major milestone in a rapid-response effort to answer important questions about protecting healthcare workers from COVID-19. The HERO program is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) coordinated by the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) and enabled by PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network.

“The HERO Registry will leverage PCORnet® resources and capacity to help us develop fast knowledge to keep healthcare workers safe and healthy, which ultimately will help protect us all,” said Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS, principal investigator for the PCORnet Coordinating Center and the HERO program.

With the launch of the registry, the HERO program is seeking participation from hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers, including nurses, therapists, physicians, emergency responders, food service workers, environmental services workers, interpreters, and transporters—anyone who works in a setting where people receive health care. Participants will receive surveys and could be selected to participate in clinical trials. Healthcare workers can sign up via the registry and participate as much or as little as they like. The registry will follow a protocol developed by the DCRI and data guidelines to keep healthcare worker information secure.

“We’re calling on all healthcare workers to share their perspectives so that we can understand and provide answers to the problems they face in real time—and over time,” said Emily O’Brien, PhD, principal investigator of the HERO Registry and assistant professor in Duke University’s Department of Population Health Sciences.

The first rapid-cycle clinical trial using the registry, HERO-HCQ, is slated to start enrolling healthcare workers at the end of April, when sites within the PCORnet network will use the registry to identify about 15,000 interested healthcare workers to participate. The trial will randomize eligible participants to either one month of hydroxychloroquine or one month of placebo and will examine whether the drug is effective in preventing COVID-19 infection. Study results will be shared widely with the healthcare community.

Using PCORnet to conduct the study offers several major advantages over traditional trials. The network has a wealth of information to draw on in setting up the registry. It also has a well-established community of healthcare systems with experience collaborating on large clinical studies engaging patients and clinicians alike. This community will facilitate the oversight essential to ensure the study is carried out ethically and allow any interested healthcare or emergency worker to easily join the registry.

“Hospitals, health systems, and health plans that participate in PCORnet have worked in partnership for years and are well poised to deliver fast, reliable research infrastructure to study COVID-19,” said Chris Forrest, MD, PhD, co-chair of the HERO Registry and principal investigator of PEDSnet, one of multiple PCORnet Partner Networks participating in HERO-HCQ. “Infrastructure issues that might cause lag time for other studies are hurdles PCORnet has already crossed. PCORnet was developed for exactly this type of research challenge, and the network is ready to meet the moment.”

PCORnet® Tapped to Deliver Fast Answers in New Research Evaluating the Health and Outcomes of Healthcare Workers on the Front Lines of COVID-19

Posted on by Jodi Snare

HERO logoAs the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic intensifies across the United States, the need for fast, reliable answers to support national health and safety has never been more important. This is exactly the type of environment PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, was developed to navigate. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) today announced up to $50 million in  funding for the Healthcare Worker Exposure Response & Outcomes (HERO) research program, which will use PCORnet resources to explore important questions about preventing healthcare workers from contracting COVID-19. It will include building a registry of  U.S. healthcare workers and a randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in preventing COVID-19 infections in healthcare workers.  The HERO research program will be led by the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).

Details about the initial announcement of this critical research initiative can be found at PCORI’s website. Further information on HERO research, its use of PCORnet resources, and how healthcare workers can participate, will be announced next week. Stay tuned for more details!