Publications by authors named "Claire P Smith"

SARS-CoV-2 antibody kinetics based on immunologic history is not fully understood. We analyzed anti-spike and anti-nucleocapsid antibody responses following acute infection in a cohort of Indigenous persons. The models of peak concentrations and decay rates estimated that one year after infection, participants would serorevert for anti-nucleocapsid antibodies and remain seropositive for anti-spike antibodies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

During the COVID-19 pandemic, forecasting COVID-19 trends to support planning and response was a priority for scientists and decision makers alike. In the United States, COVID-19 forecasting was coordinated by a large group of universities, companies, and government entities led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub (https://covid19forecasthub.org).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19 is still a major public health issue in the U.S., with projected hospitalizations and deaths over the next two years varying based on assumptions about immune escape and vaccine recommendations.
  • Researchers used modeling to create six different scenarios combining levels of immune escape (20% and 50% per year) and CDC vaccination recommendations for different age groups.
  • In the worst-case scenario (high immune escape and no vaccination), COVID-19 could lead to over 2.1 million hospitalizations and around 209,000 deaths, while targeted vaccinations for seniors could significantly reduce these numbers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Between December 2020 and April 2023, the COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub (SMH) generated operational multi-month projections of COVID-19 burden in the US to guide pandemic planning and decision-making in the context of high uncertainty. This effort was born out of an attempt to coordinate, synthesize and effectively use the unprecedented amount of predictive modeling that emerged throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Here we describe the history of this massive collective research effort, the process of convening and maintaining an open modeling hub active over multiple years, and attempt to provide a blueprint for future efforts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Our ability to forecast epidemics far into the future is constrained by the many complexities of disease systems. Realistic longer-term projections may, however, be possible under well-defined scenarios that specify the future state of critical epidemic drivers. Since December 2020, the U.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • COVID-19 is expected to continue causing significant hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. from April 2023 to April 2025, with projections varying based on assumptions about immune escape and vaccination recommendations.
  • The study analyzes six scenarios based on different levels of immune escape (20% and 50% per year) and three vaccination strategies (no recommendation, vaccination for ages 65+, or vaccination for all eligible groups).
  • In the worst-case scenario, without vaccination and with high immune escape, projections estimate up to 2.1 million hospitalizations and 209,000 deaths, indicating a public health crisis that could surpass pre-pandemic influenza and pneumonia mortality rates.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Our ability to forecast epidemics more than a few weeks into the future is constrained by the complexity of disease systems, our limited ability to measure the current state of an epidemic, and uncertainties in how human action will affect transmission. Realistic longer-term projections (spanning more than a few weeks) may, however, be possible under defined scenarios that specify the future state of critical epidemic drivers, with the additional benefit that such scenarios can be used to anticipate the comparative effect of control measures. Since December 2020, the U.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Probabilistic predictions support public health planning and decision making, especially in infectious disease emergencies. Aggregating outputs from multiple models yields more robust predictions of outcomes and associated uncertainty. While the selection of an aggregation method can be guided by retrospective performance evaluations, this is not always possible.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub brought together nine teams to analyze the effects of vaccinating children aged 5-11 against SARS-CoV-2 on COVID-19 outcomes in the U.S. from September 2021 to March 2022.
  • The study compared outcomes under scenarios with and without vaccination and the potential emergence of more transmissible variants, providing insights on case counts, hospitalizations, and deaths.
  • Findings indicated that vaccinating children could significantly reduce COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, offering both direct benefits for kids and indirect benefits for the broader population, even in scenarios with more transmissible variants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In Spring 2021, the highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant began to cause increases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in parts of the United States. At the time, with slowed vaccination uptake, this novel variant was expected to increase the risk of pandemic resurgence in the US in summer and fall 2021. As part of the COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub, an ensemble of nine mechanistic models produced 6-month scenario projections for July-December 2021 for the United States.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Because of the importance of schools to childhood development, the relationship between in-person schooling and COVID-19 risk has been one of the most important questions of this pandemic. Previous work in the United States during winter 2020-2021 showed that in-person schooling carried some risk for household members and that mitigation measures reduced this risk. Schooling and the COVID-19 landscape changed radically over spring semester 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Short-term probabilistic forecasts of the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States have served as a visible and important communication channel between the scientific modeling community and both the general public and decision-makers. Forecasting models provide specific, quantitative, and evaluable predictions that inform short-term decisions such as healthcare staffing needs, school closures, and allocation of medical supplies. Starting in April 2020, the US COVID-19 Forecast Hub (https://covid19forecasthub.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: SARS-CoV-2 vaccination of persons aged 12 years and older has reduced disease burden in the United States. The COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub convened multiple modeling teams in September 2021 to project the impact of expanding vaccine administration to children 5-11 years old on anticipated COVID-19 burden and resilience against variant strains.

Methods: Nine modeling teams contributed state- and national-level projections for weekly counts of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States for the period September 12, 2021 to March 12, 2022.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

What Is Already Known About This Topic?: The highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant has begun to cause increases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in parts of the United States. With slowed vaccination uptake, this novel variant is expected to increase the risk of pandemic resurgence in the US in July-December 2021.

What Is Added By This Report?: Data from nine mechanistic models project substantial resurgences of COVID-19 across the US resulting from the more transmissible Delta variant.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Malignant mesothelioma (MpM) is an aggressive, invariably fatal tumour that is causally linked with asbestos exposure. The disease primarily results from loss of tumour suppressor gene function and there are no 'druggable' driver oncogenes associated with MpM. To identify opportunities for management of this disease we have carried out polysome profiling to define the MpM translatome.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

After a period of rapidly declining U.S. COVID-19 incidence during January-March 2021, increases occurred in several jurisdictions (1,2) despite the rapid rollout of a large-scale vaccination program.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Context: Lipoid congenital adrenal hyperplasia is a severe disorder of adrenal and gonadal steroidogenesis caused by mutations in the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR). Affected children typically present with life-threatening adrenal insufficiency in early infancy due to a failure of glucocorticoid (cortisol) and mineralocorticoid (aldosterone) biosynthesis, and 46,XY genetic males have complete lack of androgenization and appear phenotypically female due to impaired testicular androgen secretion in utero.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether nonclassic forms of this condition exist.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF