Faculty Members Awarded New Funding for COVID-19 Research Project
A team of researchers from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, including project lead and Associate Professor Dr. Patricia Lee, was recently awarded one of five competitive COVID-19 specific AFP Innovation grants. The project entitled “Risks to medical teams caring for COVID-19 Obstetrical and Surgical patients: Is SARS-CoV-2 virus present in the female reproductive tract, the peritoneal surface, surgical smoke and/or surgical masks?” is a multi-disciplinary project that involves the divisions of Obstetrics, Gynaecology, General Surgery, and Trauma/Orthopedics.
"While most of our communities have been asked to 'stay home, stay strong and save lives', some who provide essential services, such as health care workers, must continue to go to the workplace," said Dr. Lee. "The exact risks of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the virus responsible for COVID-19 disease) is not known and thus, it is challenging to know how best to protect health care workers who work for prolonged periods in close proximity to patients with COVID-19."
The study seeks to determine the risk to health care providers caring for COVID-19 positive patients in the birthing room and operating room by analyzing patient swabs for virus/viral particles; looking for evidence of virus/viral particles in cautery smoke generated at the time of surgery with sampling of the air in these procedure rooms; and finally, at the end of the procedure, analyzing the inside of the masks worn by the surgical team.
This information will provide evidence to answer a number of questions for health care workers, including what PPE is the best to use in a given situation, and also what surgical approach workers should take: is laparotomy (open abdominal surgery with a large incision) safer than laparoscopy (“keyhole surgery” with small 1 cm incisions)? The results of this study would impact type of PPE used, the management of obstetrical and surgical patients, and also serve to guide practice locally, nationally and beyond.
Dr. Lee has applied for additional funding to expand the study to include Sinai Health System and North York General Hospital. Team members of this project include UofT ObGyn faculty members Drs. Grace Liu (Assistant Professor), Rose Kung (Associate Professor), Jamie Kroft (Assistant Professor), Louise Gagnon (Assistant Professor) and Noor Ladhani (Assistant Professor), as well as Drs. Rob Kozak, Samira Mubareka, Julie Hallet, Homer Tien, Chris Idestrup and Albert Yee.
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