The COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium: A collaborative effort to help cancer patients

It started with a tweet, and in less than a month scientists, clinicians, and patients from over 100 centers in the United States and Canada came together to learn about the impact of COVID-19 on cancer patients. The COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium was formed to “collect granular, uniformly organized information to stimulate translational science and also to arm our treating providers with the most comprehensive and scientifically accurate evidence as rapidly as possible on cancer patients affected with the virus.” It has already paid dividends. The consortium has already published evidence in a new paper in Lancet titled, “Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer: a cohort study.” One of the principal authors of that paper joined us to discuss the work of the consortium. Dimpy Shah, PhD—an American Cancer Society research grantee and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson—is a founding member of the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium and serves on its steering committee, where she provides support, guidance, oversight of progress, and strategic future directions for the consortium. 4:20 – Why the COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium was formed and what they hope to accomplish. 6:58 – On the first evidence published by the consortium: “Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer: a cohort study.” 10:32 – How this global collaboration between different centers, community partners, and academic centers started with one tweet 15:03 – The mechanics (and magnitude) of the collaboration 17:17 – Early findings from the consortium that have benefited providers 21:19 – How the study could help develop strategies to decrease COVID-19-related risks for cancer patients 24:18 – How her current American Cancer Society-funded grant—which is focused on identifying cancer patients at higher risk of developing viral pneumonia following stem cell transplant—impacted her understanding of COVID-19 in cancer patients 26:44 – A message she’d like to s