Gehr Family Center For Health Systems Science And Innovation

COVID-19 Projects

Connect and Collaborate

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Gehr Center faculty and staff have taken an active role in responding through innovation and thought leadership. Below are some highlights.

COVID-19 Vaccine Disparities: Gehr faculty led a study to examine disparities in vaccine hesitancy in Los Angeles County. They surveyed nearly 2000 County residents at the height of the pandemic and just after a COVID-19 vaccine was approved.

Keck School of Medicine COVID-19 Evidence-Based Summary: The Gehr team has led the development of Keck’s summary of epidemiology, clinical care and operational best practices related to COVID-19. The latest version of this summary – which is updated multiple times a week – can be found on Keck’s main coronavirus page. See also a webinar on the summary.

COVID-19 Patient Self-Assessment Tool: The Gehr team has developed a patient self-assessment tool, in partnership with Akido Labs. The tool has already had more than 400,000 unique users, and is now available in English and Spanish. The tool can be accessed here (click on the “language” tab in upper right for Spanish version). The tool has been shared through the USC Center for Health Journalism, STAT News, LA Times, Fox News, and Wikipedia’s COVID-19 page.

COVID-19 Medical Student Elective: Led by Gehr faculty member Michael Cousineau, DPH, the Gehr team a four-week medical student elective on COVID-19, which featured experts in clinical case and policy related to COVID-19 from the USC community and across the state.

COVID-19 Thought Leadership: Gehr faculty have written several COVID-19-related opinion pieces on topics ranging from the impact on homeless populations, the implications for telemedicine, the rationale for a more targeted public health approach. strategies for clinical care, and the need for more rationale COVID-19 testing.

Media Coverage: Gehr faculty have been widely quoted in the media regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, including by Consumer Reports, the LA Times, the New York Times, The Washington Post, Capital and Main, the AARP, Al Jazeera, and KCAL.

Resource Allocation During a Pandemic : The Gehr Center’s Susanne Hempel, PhD, led an evidence review for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on optimal resource allocation during a pandemic.