Last fall, Stanford Medicine announced the development of a new life science innovation lab and incubator in a recently vacated building in Stanford Research Park. One section of the new facility — Stanford Medicine Healthcare Innovation Lab — now is going all out in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. There are three crowd-sourced COVID-19 initiatives in underway today: the Wearables Data Study, Molecular Profiling, and a Global COVID-19 Relief Coalition.
The Wearables Data Study is trying to determine if data from wearables such as Apple Watches and Fitbit wristbands can track and even predict the onset of COVID-19 before symptoms begin to appear. This study is currently enrolling participants who own a wearable device and have either a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19; have been exposed to a known or suspected COVID-19 patient; or have high exposure risks such as healthcare or grocery store workers. This study will track data from the wearables to see if the information can be used to predict infectious diseases. To learn more about the study or to enroll, click here.
The Molecular Profiling study will involve participants collecting microsamples at home, completing an online symptom survey, and send the microsamples to Stanford. The Innovation Lab encourages participants in the Molecular Profiling study who have wearable health trackers to also enroll in the Wearables Data Study. The Molecular Profiling study will open soon, according to the Innovation Lab.
The Global COVID-19 Relief Coalition (GCRC) will bring together labs and universities, citizen scientists, and activists to work together to beat COVID-19. Working in collaboration with the NIH, the GCRC focus areas include rapid solution development and deployment, relevant global resource access, and the channeling of resources where active participants on-the-ground most need them. More information on the Global Relief Coalition is on the GCRC website.
The Healthcare Innovation Lab’s mission is to bridge the gap between technology and medicine for breakthrough innovations to make precision healthcare an affordable reality worldwide. it will be fascinating to see the products from the Stanford endeavor, especially in the battles against COVID-19.
