NEWS BRIEFS
Researchers aim to better understand COVID-19 in students with intellectual and developmental disabilities Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester are working to better understand how COVID-19 impacts students and staff in schools that serve students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The $4 million project, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of DiagnosticsUnderserved Populations (RADx-UP), will allow researchers to work with students and staff at the Mary Cariola Center School in Rochester to study how COVID-19 spreads in the vulnerable population the agency serves. “Understanding how to best test this population and how COVID spreads in group settings is imperative to keeping those with an IDD safe,” said John Foxe, Ph.D., Director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, and co-principal investigator of the study. “Ultimately, this study will have major implications for schools across the United States and specifically for schools that serve vulnerable students.” Foxe is one of three principal investigators leading this study.
John Foxe, Ph.D., shares details of the study during a press conference at Mary Cariola Center on October 5, 2021.
Martin Zand, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of Clinical & Translational Science Institute and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the Medical Center, and Stephen Dewhurst, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Research at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, are also principal investigators. According to the NIH, a non-vaccinated person with intellectual and developmental disabilities is four-times more likely to contract COVID-19 and eight-times more likely to die from the virus than someone without an IDD. It is also a population that is difficult to test with effective procedures.
This study will allow researchers to rapidly identify initial infections, antigen levels, and through isolating and contacttracing stop the spread of infection in school settings. In addition to researchers testing on all three Mary Cariola School campuses, they will also utilize a dedicated vehicle to travel between the school and students' homes, to test and track anyone who tests positive. Last spring, the NIH designated the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience as one of 16 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Centers in the county.
Neuroscience Graduate Program alumnus Monique Mendes, Ph.D., delivers remarks for the class of 2020 on October 2, 2021
“
I want to leave you with the greatest piece of knowledge I have so far — over the past 28 years of my life — that got me to this point. It is plainly to be selfless, err on the side of kindness, and, most importantly, take risks.”
- Monique Mendes, Ph.D. '18M (M.S.), '20M (Ph.D.) University of Rochester photo // J. Adam Fenster
NEUROSCIENCE | VOL 11, 2021
3
