Data is paramount to managing the COVID-19 crisis, and Public Health assistant professor Fares Qeadan, PhD, has been awarded access to an extensive data set related to the outbreak. As a result of the award, Dr. Qeadan can now access a wealth of de-identified data from 68 million+ patients, including lab results, underlying illnesses and chronic conditions, and clinical complications. The data, gathered by healthcare technology company Cerner and Amazon Web Services, is accessible only to those researchers whose proposals are accepted by the companies. Dr. Qeadan's proposal, entitled, "The Intersection of Opioids and COVID-19," was one of only 45 proposals to be awarded in the United States. “Data on COVID-19 are not publicly available, and when they are available their sample size is a big limitation that diminishes any reliable statistical inference or generalization from the results,” says Dr. Qeadan. “It is extremely important to have access to large data sets when dealing with a pandemic so that results are generalizable with reliable statistical inference.” Dr. Qeadan is familiar with the CERNER data sets, having used it in previous research on naxalone prescriptions and racial inequity. Dr. Qeadan will use his access to the COVID-19 data set to examine the connection between opioid use and COVID-19 symptoms and mortality. Because nearly 35% of the U.S. population over age 12 uses opioids, it is important to understand the effects of opioid use on COVID-19 patients, especially as opioid use lead to slower breathing and, with higher doses, can cause hypoxemia. “Accessing the CERNER data with all available COVID-19 indicators will give us the chance to make discoveries and answer important scientific questions about COVID-19,” says Dr. Qeadan. “We are so excited about this research work and hope to make some discoveries that contribute to ending this pandemic.”