Prioritizing clinical research studies during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons from New York City

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, was first recognized in Wuhan, China in December 2019 (1) and rapidly spread through Asia and Europe, with the first US case identified in January 2020. The first New York case was reported in early March 2020 and by the first week in April, the New York Presbyterian Hospital system, including Columbia and Weill Cornell, had close to 2500 in-patients with over 700 patients on ventilators. The standard of care for COVID-19 was supportive care only and with significant morbidity and mortality recognized, there was a desperate need to identify effective treatments. Launching clinical research studies during this public health crisis required communication, collaboration, prioritization, keeping current with rapidly changing evidence, and maintaining high standards of scientific integrity and participant safety.