Study participants include children up to and including 36
months who attend group child care and early childhood education
settings located in Worcester and
Cambridge
WORCESTER, Mass., Aug. 14,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- UMass Chan Medical School today
announced it will begin enrolling participants at group child care
and early childhood education settings in Worcester and Cambridge to examine the impact of
cytomegalovirus (CMV) transmission. The study is a collaboration
with Moderna (Nasdaq: MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering
messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapeutics and vaccines, which is
currently researching a vaccine for CMV.
The study will examine how CMV spreads
among children and between household members.
The study, called CMV Transmission and Immune Tracking
(CMVTransmIT), will examine how CMV spreads among children and
between household members, with an aim to characterize immune
responses to CMV infection over time. Findings from the study will
inform the design of CMV prevention strategies, including awareness
campaigns for CMV, to potentially reduce its spread in similar
group settings.
CMV is the most common infectious cause of birth defects in the
world. The virus can spread from pregnant women to their unborn
children, a condition known as congenital CMV infection (cCMV).
Infants with cCMV at birth are at risk for abnormal
neurodevelopment, including hearing loss and microcephaly. Overall,
nearly 20 percent of infants with cCMV have long-term effects from
the virus.
The study is led by Laura Gibson,
MD'94, associate professor of medicine at UMass Chan. Dr. Gibson
has extensive expertise in congenital CMV infection, including
studies of T-cell responses to CMV in children.
"By enrolling in the study, participants will learn more about
the risk of CMV in their family's lives, while the study team will
learn how to better understand transmission of this virus," said
Gibson.
Participation in the study involves having the parent or
guardian of the participant child complete an online eligibility
assessment and survey about the child and their household, as well
as having the child provide a saliva sample.
"With the dedicated leadership of Dr. Gibson, the CMV TransmIT
Study is unique as it focuses on the transmission of CMV in the
child care setting, which is a novel approach," said Lawrence Rhein, MD, MPH, the Stoddard Chair
of Pediatrics and chair and professor of pediatrics at UMass
Chan. "As a pediatrician, this study is important to help us better
understand the spread of CMV in a large setting while also
providing an opportunity to bring awareness of this common, yet
rarely known, virus."
The study team appointed a Community Advisory Board to offer
expertise in the areas of childcare, occupational safety and
research, while also including community members, center parents
and parents who have been affected by CMV. Through building
relationships within the communities, the study team has already
built a network of public and private licensed day care centers to
participate in the study, including the YWCA of Central Massachusetts, which also participates
on the Community Advisory Board.
"The YWCA of Central
Massachusetts is proud to join and be the first early
education and care center to partner with the UMass Chan Medical
School to incorporate the CMV Transmission and Immune Tracking
Study into our center," said Darlene
Belliveau, director of children's services, YWCA of
Central Massachusetts. "We joined
the study to potentially have the ability to help shape the future
of prenatal infections and be part of a community of like-minded
people. We believe our work is not just with young children but
with the whole family. Collaborating with UMass Chan will give us
the opportunity to provide connections to community resources and
support to help families thrive and potentially reduce the risk of
CMV transmission."
"CMV is a complex virus, and approximately one in three children
are infected before the age of 5. In addition, congenital CMV
infection is the most common infectious cause of birth defects, and
one out of every five newborns with congenital CMV infection will
struggle with lifelong health problems including hearing loss and
developmental disability," said Lori
Panther, MD, MPH, Vice President, Clinical Development,
Infectious Disease at Moderna. "Dr. Gibson's CMV Transmit study is
an important effort to provide a better understanding of CMV
transmission dynamics and immune response to infection."
Enrollment of group childcare and early childhood education
settings in Worcester and
Cambridge is ongoing with more
information about the study and how to enroll available by visiting
https://www.cmvtransmitstudy.com.
About UMass Chan Medical School
UMass Chan
Medical School, one of five campuses of the University of Massachusetts system, comprises the
T.H. Chan School of Medicine; the
Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; the Tan
Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing; ForHealth Consulting of UMass
Chan Medical School, a public service consulting division; and
MassBiologics, the only nonprofit, FDA-licensed manufacturer of
vaccines, biologics and viral vector gene therapies in the United States. UMass Chan's mission is to
advance the health and wellness of our diverse communities
throughout Massachusetts and
across the world by leading and innovating in education, research,
health care delivery and public service. In doing so, it has built
a reputation as a world-class research institution and as a leader
in primary care education, perennially ranked in the top 10 percent
of medical schools for primary care by U.S. News and World Report.
UMass Chan attracts more than $300
million annually in research funding, placing it among the
top 50 medical schools in the nation. In 2021, the Medical School
received a $175 million donation from
The Morningside Foundation and was renamed UMass Chan Medical
School.
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