Coming Together Around COVID-19 Research in New Jersey

In the midst of the devastation and disruption of a global pandemic, faculty and staff across the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research have found new ways to come together and continue our important work. 

The Institute is committed to ensuring New Jersey communities have access to up-to-date information and reliable facts. With the first approved vaccines now available and clinical trials continuing to advance around the world, the Institute is partnering with community organizations and groups to present educational programs and have important conversations about COVID-19 vaccines and research. For more information, contact community@ifh.rutgers.edu. 

Early in the pandemic, the Institute launched #IFHTranslates, a Twitter campaign that provides daily translations of official New Jersey COVID-19 updates in nine languages, including Spanish, Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog and Korean. Translations are completed by IFH research assistants and volunteers, and are shared on Twitter accounts with language-specific hashtags. The Institute also partners with the TV Asia network to provide updates for daily newscasts in Hindi and Gujarati.

Use the menu to the right to find more COVID-19 resources and information, or contact us at community@ifh.rutgers.edu.  

In spring 2020, the Institute’s Centers and Cores quickly transitioned to telecommuting with video meetings, and responded to the urgent need to understand and address COVID-19 concerns and challenges in the community and health care services. Among the numerous projects currently planned or underway at the Institute and its Centers are: 

• The Center for Health Services Research is studying the intersecting COVID-19 and opioid epidemics. Among other topics, its work is examining the risks and outcomes for COVID-19 infection in individuals with substance use disorders, as well as the considerable changes taking place in treatment processes and recovery residences.
• The iPHD project has a new priority, “Supporting New Jersey’s Response to the COVID-19 and other public health emergencies.” The Center for State Health Policy will convene a subcommittee to integrate the new priority into the project.
• Faculty in the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science are working on several projects related to COVID-19. Dr. Dan Horton is involved in the Rutgers COVID-19 Cohort Study, the nation’s largest prospective study of healthcare workers, as well as a number of related trials. Dr. Soko Setoguchi is leading NJACTS’s effort to create a comprehensive and longitudinal COVID-19 data repository from health records for clinical research.
• Dr. XinQi Dong is co-lead investigator for Rutgers University’s clinical trial site for the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine. He is also leading a study related to impacts of social distancing and isolation during COVID-19 on older adults.