Scripps Research collaborates with The Rockefeller Foundation on digital COVID-19 surveillance, pandemic preparedness A grant from the New York-based foundation will fuel expansion of DETECT, Scripps Research's sensor-based study for real-time digital detection of viral illness.
June 14, 2021
LA JOLLA, CA Scientists at the Scripps Research Digital Trials Center are collaborating with The Rockefeller Foundation to expand efforts to create a sensor-based early warning system for COVID-19 and other viral outbreaks. Efforts will center on expanding and refining Scripps Research's ongoing DETECT study, which has already enrolled more than 38,000 participants across the United States.
Bolstered by a new grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, the DETECT team will expand outreach efforts to further increase participation, with a primary focus on underrepresented and high-risk communities across San Diego County.
The scientists also received support in the form of computing credits from the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Diagnostic Development Initiative.
The app-based DETECT study, launched in March 2020, uses sensor data from smartwatches and activity trackers of consenting participants to gain new insights into physiological and behavioral changes associated with viral illness and more recently, physiological response to vaccines. The team's goal is to detect COVID-19 or other illnesses before symptoms appear.
A larger and more diverse pool of participants will allow us to refine and validate our predictive model for identifying viral illness activity, including COVID-19 and seasonal flu, based on changes in heart rate, sleep and activity, says Jennifer Radin, PhD, the Scripps Research Translational Institute (SRTI) epidemiologist leading the study. By targeting our efforts in San Diego, where we've already enrolled over 3,000 local participants, we hope to scale to a level where we can track population-level viral illness in real-time in a geographically defined area.
An early analysis of DETECT data, published last fall in Nature Medicine, showed that the information captured by wearable devices can significantly improve scientists' ability to identify infections, compared with relying on reported symptoms alone.
The Scripps Research team hopes the approach can eventually supplement traditional disease-surveillance methods which often rely on data from healthcare institutions and testing facilities to identify outbreaks faster and with greater geographic accuracy. This would enable public health officials to contain deadly viruses more quickly.
An innovative collaboration
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists at Scripps Research have collaborated with their peers at The Rockefeller Foundation in New York to respond to the many challenges that have emerged.
Eric Topol, MD, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, contributed to The Rockefeller Foundation's National COVID-19 Testing Action Plan, as well as an updated version of the report. Topol and Kristian Andersen, PhD, director of Infectious Disease Genomics at SRTI, also provided their expertise for the Foundation's national disease surveillance plan, which calls for using genomic technologies and other sophisticated tools to detect and track viral threats.
When it comes to preparing for and responding to disease outbreaks, the need for innovation has been clear even before the COVID-19 pandemic, says Rick Bright, PhD, senior vice president of Pandemic Prevention and Response at The Rockefeller Foundation. We envision a federated global early warning system that considers a variety of data streams from genomic sequencing and wastewater surveillance to cell phone mobility and wearable sensors and can produce insights that can be used to stop disease outbreaks in their first 100 days.
Keeping an eye on viral threats
In addition to helping public health officials in the United States improve their response to outbreaks, the team envisions a use for the approach in other parts of the world.
While the development of highly effective vaccines in record time has provided many countries a powerful tool for reining in COVID-19, the global situation remains dire. In many areas, vaccines are not accessible, and the virus continues to spread uncontrolled, raising the risk that dangerous new variants will emerge.
Wearable sensor-based technologies can help, allowing public health officials to identify outbreaks of COVID-19, the seasonal flu or the next novel virus of pandemic potential. They also can help track physiological response to vaccines and treatments.
After validating the sensor-based virus surveillance model in San Diego, the team plans to roll it out more broadly, with an emphasis on regions with limited capacity for traditional disease surveillance methods.
We are delighted to continue our collaboration with The Rockefeller Foundation and grateful for the support from AWS, Topol says. We look forward to taking DETECT and digital disease surveillance to the next level.
The Scripps Research Digital Trials Center leads groundbreaking studies that address the world's most pressing health concerns. As pioneers of the site-less clinical trial, the center leverage rapidly evolving digital health technologies to re-engineer the clinical trial experience around the participant, rather than the research site.
Enrollment in DETECT is open to anyone over the age of 18 in the United States. To learn more, visit detectstudy.org.
COVID-19 Translational Institute Radin, Jennifer
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...
Scripps Research collaborates with The Rockefeller Foundation on digital COVID-19 surveillance, pandemic preparedness A grant from the New York-based foundation will fuel expansion of DETECT, Scripps Research's sensor-based study for real-time digital detection of viral illness. 
