Table 1.

Key Priorities for COVID-19 Research by Pulmonary and Critical Care Investigators

Understanding disease spread and management of asymptomatic patients who are shedding the virus

Defining host and viral virulence factors that can predict and explain which patients are likely to have mild or severe disease and by what mechanism

Define viral incubation period and the optimal duration of quarantine

Determine if group quarantine of suspected or at-risk patients is an effective control measure or a means of spreading disease

Identify common medications that might alter disease susceptibility and outcome, such as aspirin and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents, hydroxychloroquine, anginotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and receptor blockers, or agents that could alter cellular binding sites for the virus

Develop optimal methods to slow disease spread

Define how much herd immunity will be needed to slow pandemic spread

Develop biomarkers or clinical tools to predict disease course and severity

Conduct randomized clinical trials with promising agents such as antiviral drugs (remdesivir), pooled serum or immunoglobulin, hydroxychloroquine, IL-6 inhibitors, JAK inhibitors, and other agents

Define the role of antibiotics to treat initial bacterial coinfection and subsequent nosocomial pneumonia

Conduct randomized controlled trials of antiinflammatory agents such as corticosteroids to see if they are helpful or harmful, or if specific subsets and timing of administration can be identified to define those most likely to benefit

Study ways to measure and minimize the psychological stress to healthcare workers and the public of pandemic COVID-19

Study tools to improve patient management, allowing effective isolation and disease monitoring (e.g., telemonitoring in home or in residential facilities)

Define methods to allow for noninvasive ventilation without risking harm to healthcare workers

Definition of abbreviation: COVID-19 = coronavirus disease.