Central Biorepository Spotlight: COVID-19 Research

SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing to Define Viral Spread on College Campuses

The SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing to Define Viral Spread on College Campuses study partners with the Central Biorepository, a unit of the University of Michigan Medical School Office of Research, which facilitates discovery and improves healthcare outcomes by providing high-quality, highly annotated biospecimens donated for basic, clinical and translational research.

The unit receives biospecimens and data from U-M contributors and collaborators across a spectrum of medical research. These samples, annotated with clinical and research data, are accessible to members of the U-M research enterprise.

Types of Biospecimens

The CBR assists with aliquotting and storage of residual respiratory specimens used in clinical testing for COVID-19

Population

1,500 participants and counting!

These samples come from both the campus community and the patient population of Michigan Medicine.

The image above highlights a phylogenetic tree of SARS-CoV-2 sequences from U-M and Washtenaw County.
 

Access

The Central Biorepository enables access to thousands of COVID-19 residual biospecimens from Michigan Medicine patients and offers secure linkage to laboratory and clinical data offered by the Data Office.

Get started:

• Search the COVID-19 Disease cohort on the self-serve tool, DataDirect.
• Complete and submit a CBR Use Proposal Form available on research.medicine.umich.edu/biorepository and send to CBR.requests@umich.edu.
• With IRB and oversight committee approval, datasets can be downloaded

"This project has given us a window into how SARS-CoV-2 spreads through a community. Our recent work has focused on using sequence data to assist with contact tracing and containment of new viral variants." - Adam Lauring, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine.

SARS-CoV-2 Sequencing to Define Viral Spread on College Campuses

Dr. Lauring's lab is performing high throughput sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 using samples collected through community surveillance and clinical testing. Using viral genome sequences, the lab is trying to define how SARS-CoV-2 spreads on college campuses and to understand the degree to which viruses move back and forth between the campus and the surrounding community.