WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following Senator Tillis’ direct advocacy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is awarding a $27 million contract that will support Wake Forest Baptist Health’s COVID-19 antibody and surveillance research, a key component of controlling and defeating the pandemic. During the approval process, Senator Tillis worked behind the scenes alongside Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC-09), Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Rep Steve Scalise (R-LA-01) to advocate for the project.

“Wake Forest Baptist is on the cutting edge of innovation in the fight against COVID-19, and it was an honor to work with the university during the approval process,” said Senator Thom Tillis. “I am proud that Wake Forest Baptist will lead the Southeast Region’s broad-based antibody population surveillance study. I applaud Dr. Redfield and his team at CDC for recognizing the invaluable work that Wake Forest and the state of North Carolina are doing to combat COVID-19.”

The CDC contract is for a project named “Prospective, Natural History Study of SARS COV-2 Infection in Wake Forest Health Care Workers Using Innovative Sampling Kits and Online Data Gathering.” Wake Forest Baptist Health and Atrium Health will be the host of the program, which will also include collaboration from MedStar Health, the University of Maryland, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and Tulane University School of Medicine. 

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