Presenter: Kimberly Tan, Public Health Science, Global Public Health Scholars
For my practicum project, I decided to work as a clinical research assistant for the CATCH the Virus Study on campus. The purpose of the study is to look for a variety of patterns within physiological and chemical biomarkers that can make one more susceptible or contagious to acute respiratory infections, particularly influenza. As influenza continues to be a persistent issue today, taking tens of thousands of deaths every year, it is important to understand the signs of when someone becomes contagious, as well as transmission pathways. My duties as a research assistant include obtaining biological samples from our participants such as venous blood and mid-turbinate nasal swabs, consenting participants against IRB guidelines, and data entry into RedCap, a secured database.