The David Geffen School of Medicine COVID-19 Oversight Research Committee (OCRC) is coordinating all research aimed at addressing this public health crisis. Chaired by Dr. Owen Witte, Director of the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center and University Professor, the OCRC is spearheading a systematic and comprehensive approach to activate strategies for every stage of this disease from monitoring to prevention, early treatment, hospitalization, and recovery. This requires a large and nimble infrastructure.
The OCRC is setting a bold, collective vision and roadmap for COVID-19 research at the David Geffen School of Medicine, convening five task forces with deep expertise in specific domains, including:
The scope of which includes clinical trials, clinical, and population health research. This committee will review studies submitted to the IRB that are COVID related that require any resources from UCLA Health.
The focus of which is on initiating and accelerating basic through translational biomedical research on COVID-19.
The scope of which is 1) to advise the OCRC to integrate health equity aims in all COVID-19 research, 2) to prioritize research that involves direct action on health, healthcare, and social inequities experienced by racial/ethnic minority and other vulnerable populations, 3) to elevate projects that enhance DGSOM’s educational infrastructure for health equity, service leadership, social accountability, and action-oriented solutions
The committee is co-chaired by Christina Harris and Enrico Castillo, and committee members are Eraka Bath, Rochelle Dicker, Eric Esrailian, Alma Guerrero, Nina Harawa, and Breena Taira.
Led by Chief Medical Officer for Clinical Research Arash Naeim and Infectious Diseases Division Chief Judith Currier, the scope of this task force includes clinical trials, clinical and population health research.
The main charge of this group will be to evaluate and approve requests for COVID-19 related patient data from third-party sources.
This task force, which reports to Vice Chancellor Wakimoto, is charged with determining priorities and evaluating requests for use of high-containment research space, where live COVID-19 virus can be studied.
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