Surveilling Prospective Population cohorts for COVID19 prevalence and outcomes in Canada

COVID-19 Research Area(s): Epidemiology & Public Health, Healthcare Delivery & Policy

Public health crises, such as pandemics, require the rapid mobilization of the population and clinical resources. The integration of diverse data and biosample collection efforts enable us to capture a range of important factors that contribute to disease spread and severity, through the study of population cohorts, as well as advancing our understanding of drivers of poor health outcomes in more clinical contexts. In short, the integration of clinical programs, with broader population cohort approaches afford us the opportunity to assess Covid-19 prevalence in Canada, while discovering and tracking critical biological and environmental determinants of disease susceptibility and severity. To enable this approach, we will leverage prior investments in research infrastructure to develop a Canadian Population Cohort COVID-19 Initiative-SUrveilling Prospective Population cOhorts for COVID19 pRevalence and ouTcomes in Canada (SUPPORT-Canada), to advance clinical and population research to better understand, prevent and combat the spread of COVID-19. SUPPORT-Canada will be built out from the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow's Health (CanPath), the largest health research platform and population health cohort in Canadian history.