SoapBoxSample Will Provide Critical Data for USC-LA County COVID Research Collaboration

LRW’s Access Division, SoapBoxSample will assist USC and Los Angeles County with antibody testing and behavioral surveys of LA residents to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of COVID-19

March 29, 2021, Los Angeles, CA — LRW, a Material company will join forces with the University of Southern California (USC) and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) to conduct the Los Angeles Pandemic Surveillance Cohort Study, which is designed to track changes in residents’ health and wellbeing as well as gauge behavioral effects of the pandemic within the region. The complex study of 3,000 county residents will involve multiple touch points – including COVID antibody testing and re-testing at timed intervals, along with surveys to measure residents’ behavioral patterns and test hypotheses significant to public health.

The collaborative project is an early initiative within the Population Health COVID-19 Pandemic Research Center (CPRC), part of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. It brings together multi-disciplinary thought leaders from medical, health and public policy fields of academic research, LA County medical and public health officials and experts in sampling strategies, analysis and research design from LRW’s Access Divison – SoapBoxSample.  Principle investigators of the Los Angeles Pandemic Surveillance Cohort Study include Professor Howard Hu, MD MPH ScD, of the Keck School of Medicine at USC; Professor Neeraj Sood, PhD, of the Price School of Policy at USC; Rani Kotha, JD MPH, of the Price School of Policy at USC; Paul Simon, MD MPH, of the LACDPH, and Will Nichols, MD MPH, of the LACDPH.

“Our partnership with USC and LA County began last year, when SoapBox was brought on as a partner for the first COVID antibody research in LA County. We will continue to provide critical insights as we strive toward restoring normalcy in LA County,” said Jacqueline Rosales, President of LRW’s Access Division. It’s the most challenging yet rewarding work of my 25+ year career in the data insights industry. ISA has been headquartered in Los Angeles for nearly 40 years, and our deep roots in the community make us uniquely suited for this groundbreaking research engagement.”

SoapBoxSample will recruit a representative sample of 3,000 LA County residents, including 2,000 adults and 1,000 children. Participants will be recruited from neighborhoods with high, medium and low population densities. By including a diverse cross-section of the LA community that represents multiple age groups, socioeconomic strata, genders, and the racial and ethnic makeup of the county, this study aims to shed light on the potentially inequitable impact of the pandemic. The overall goal is to generate data on the “true” prevalence of COVID-19 infections, as well as it’s progression over a defined period of time.

Thus far, SoapBoxSample has assisted with COVID-19 antibody testing for over 5,000 California residents. County-wide testing programs in Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County and Stanislaus County have leveraged SoapBoxSample to reach and test representative samples of their populations, empowering health officials to develop public health policies supported by critical data.

“Even as the vaccination campaign proceeds and continuing measures such as masking, social distancing and other guidelines are embraced, it is clear that this pandemic has a long way to go,” said Howard Hu, professor and the Flora L. Thornton Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine. “A rigorous understanding of the pandemic’s ongoing impact will be critical to devising the public health strategies to navigate this current situation and to allow us to return to some form of ‘normalcy’ as quickly and safely as possible.”

SoapBoxSample Helps Riverside County Gauge the Spread of COVID-19

Antibody Study Shows COVID-19 May Have Infected 5.9% of Riverside County Residents, to Date

August 3, 2020, Los Angeles, CA — In an effort to understand and slow the spread of COVID-19, SoapBoxSample partnered with Riverside University Health Systems to test a representative sample of Riverside County residents for the presence of COVID-19 antibodies in their blood. The study was unique because it included adults and children aged 5 and older. This test was administered to 1,726 county residents to gain a more accurate picture of the spread of the virus in Riverside County.

Based on the county’s study, officials estimate there have been between 118,000 and 175,400 infections in Riverside County. On the low end, that would be 235% higher than confirmed case totals; on the high end, it would mean a confirmed infection prevalence that is 431% higher than the county’s current total number of confirmed cases. Riverside County has about 2.5 million residents.

SoapBoxSample recruited a random sample of Riverside residents through their proprietary sampling techniques, designed to ensure reach and diversity. Study participants were included via invitation only. Residents were not allowed to volunteer to be a part of the study, so that health officials could obtain a representative sample of the community, which is a critical component of the study. The study showed a positivity rate of nearly 6%, and officials used that percentage to estimate how many residents likely had the virus by applying the positivity rate to the overall population. These results emphasize the need to practice safe social distancing by wearing face masks and keeping 6 feet of distance from others.

“It is an honor to work on such impactful point-in-time research. We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve done here, assisting Riverside County with understanding the true spread of COVID-19 within their community. We will continue to partner with county officials, medical professionals, scientists and epidemiologists. We have a lot to learn about antibodies beyond just the prevalence.” said Jacqueline Rosales, SoapBoxSample COO.

“We continue to learn new information about coronavirus, and this survey adds important research to the growing knowledge of COVID-19,” said Riverside County Board Chair and Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez.

SoapBoxSample attracted attention from the local and national news media last March when the results of their serosurveillance study of Los Angeles County was released. The study, which tested 863 LA County residents, revealing a positivity rate of 4.06%, was conducted in partnership with the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles Department of Health. SoapBoxSample recruited the participants, developed the research instrument and designed the results portals, where residents learn the status of their tests. Read the full article in the Journal of the American Medical Association here.

Business Insider Showcases COVID-19 Antibody Research by SoapBoxSample

SoapBoxSample’s Antibody Study Gets Featured

In an article published on May 22, 2020, Business Insider highlighted the COVID-19 antibody research conducted by Los Angeles-based insights firm SoapBoxSample. Business Insider is a well-respected business news media outlet focusing on tech, finance and American industries.

Article Excerpt:

“In mid-April, Los Angeles tried to understand the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic by asking hundreds of residents to get drive-through blood tests. The results found that estimated infection rates were “28 to 55 times higher” than the number of officially reported cases, but that the virus was also probably much less fatal than previously thought. These tests were the product of an unusual collaboration between the LA County Department of Public Health, the University of Southern California, and 50-year-old consulting firm LRW Group.

LRW Group is best known for consumer sentiment research that clients like Google, Facebook, Disney, and Starbucks never publicize. For example, when an auto company wants to let people test drive a new model and weigh in, or a household goods company needs to see how consumers respond to the smell of a new fabric softener, they often hire LRW Group’s consumer research division SoapBoxSample, according to president Jeff Reynolds.”

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SoapBoxSample’s COVID-19 Antibody Research Featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association

SoapBoxSample Assisted with the Ongoing COVID-19 Antibody Research

Groundbreaking COVID-19 antibody research from SoapBoxSample was featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association, published May 18, 2020. The Journal of the American Medical Association is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of biomedicine. The study reviewed in this article was the pilot wave of a research initiative conducted in partnership with the University of Southern California and the LA County Department of Public Health. SoapBoxSample assisted with the ongoing research engagement to test Angelenos for COVID-19 antibodies in their blood. By launching this critical study, researchers and public officials hoped to get closer to answering the question of when society could “get back to normal.” SoapBoxSample designed the research instrument and recruited 865 Angelenos for the initial pilot test. Subsequently, 1015 additional Los Angeles County residents were recruited for wave 2. SoapBoxSample’s expertise in reaching diverse multicultural audiences, and deep roots in the LA community allowed them to efficiently contact and recruit participants. Antibody testing is ongoing in LA County and SoapBoxSample continues to provide data for this important research initiative.

Article Excerpt:

“Inadequate knowledge about the extent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic challenges public health response and planning. Most reports of confirmed cases rely on polymerase chain reaction–based testing of symptomatic patients. These estimates of confirmed cases miss individuals who have recovered from infection, with mild or no symptoms, and individuals with symptoms who have not been tested due to limited availability of tests.

We conducted serologic tests in a community sample to estimate cumulative incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, as serologic tests identify both active and past infections.”

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