COVID-19 Scientific Publications From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, January 2020-January 2022

COVID-19 Response of the Journal Public Health Reports (PHR), March 2020-March 2023

OBJECTIVE

Publication science is the scholarly study of various aspects of the academic publishing process. Its applications to COVID-19 literature have been limited. Here, we describe COVID-19 submissions to, and resulting articles published by, the journal Public Health Reports (PHR), an important resource for US public health practice.

METHODS

We reviewed PHR's COVID-19 submissions and articles published between March 27, 2020, and March 27, 2023. We coded each article for article type, author affiliation, the categories listed in PHR's call for COVID-19 papers, and the public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

RESULTS

During the study period, PHR received 1545 COVID-19 submissions and published 190 of those articles in a collection, COVID-19 Response. The COVID-19 Response collection included 102 research articles, 29 case study/practice articles, and 24 commentaries. The corresponding author of more than half (52.1%; n = 99) of the articles was affiliated with academia. By the categories listed in PHR's call for COVID-19 papers, 51 articles addressed health disparities, 38 addressed public health surveillance, and 34 addressed COVID-19 vaccination. By the CDC public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities, 87 articles addressed public health surveillance and epidemiologic investigation, 38 addressed community preparedness, and 32 addressed community recovery. The percentage of articles focused on policy/law was higher early in the pandemic (2020-2021) than later (2022-2023) (9.5% vs <3.0%). During the latter period, articles largely focused on vaccination (12.8%) and contact tracing (10.6%).

CONCLUSIONS

Articles published in PHR's COVID-19 Response collection covered a broad range of topics and were authored by contributors from diverse organizations. Our characterization of the COVID-19 output of a representative US public health practice journal can help academic publishing better address informational needs of public health responders.

Translation in action: Influence, collaboration, and evolution of COVID-19 research with Clinical and Translational Science Awards consortium support

The National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) consortium aims to accelerate translational processes that move discoveries from bench to bedside. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presented unmatched challenges and applications for CTSA hubs nationwide. Our study used bibliometrics to assess features of COVID-19 publications supported by the national CTSA program to characterize the consortium's response to the pandemic. Our goal was to understand relative scientific influence, collaboration across hubs, and trends in research emphasis over time. We identified publications from NIH's curated iSearch COVID-19 Publication Portfolio from February 2020 to February 2023; 3234 peer-reviewed articles relevant to COVID-19 cited a CTSA grant. All 66 CTSA hubs were represented, with large-size and longstanding hubs contributing more publications. Most publications cited UL1 grants, 457 cited KL2/TL1 training grants, and 164 cited multiple hub grants. Compared to a random sample of non-CTSA-supported COVID-19 publications, the CTSA portfolio exhibited greater clinical relevance, more human research, and higher altmetric and citation influence. Results were similar for multi-hub publications involving networked initiatives like multi-site clinical trials or the National COVID-19 Cohort Collaborative. Shifts from molecular/cellular-oriented research toward human-oriented research over time were evident, demonstrating translation in action. Results illuminate how the CTSA consortium confronted the pandemic through high-quality projects oriented toward human research, working across hubs on high-value collaborations, advancing along the translational spectrum over time. Findings validate CTSA hubs as critical support structures during health emergencies.

Diarylpentanoids, the privileged scaffolds in antimalarial and anti-infectives drug discovery: A review

Asia is a hotspot for infectious diseases, including malaria, dengue fever, tuberculosis, and the pandemic COVID-19. Emerging infectious diseases have taken a heavy toll on public health and the economy and have been recognized as a major cause of morbidity and mortality, particularly in Southeast Asia. Infectious disease control is a major challenge, but many surveillance systems and control strategies have been developed and implemented. These include vector control, combination therapies, vaccine development, and the development of new anti-infectives. Numerous newly discovered agents with pharmacological anti-infective potential are being actively and extensively studied for their bioactivity, toxicity, selectivity, and mode of action, but many molecules lose their efficacy over time due to resistance developments. These facts justify the great importance of the search for new, effective, and safe anti-infectives. Diarylpentanoids, a curcumin derivative, have been developed as an alternative with better bioavailability and metabolism as a therapeutic agent. In this review, the mechanisms of action and potential targets of antimalarial drugs as well as the classes of antimalarial drugs are presented. The bioactivity of diarylpentanoids as a potential scaffold for a new class of anti-infectives and their structure-activity relationships are also discussed in detail.