“FUNDING FOR ASSESSMENT OF THE LONG TERM IMPACTS OF COVID-19 INFECTION

In the absence of a competitive grant round in 2020 due to COVID-19 impacts in hospitals, we instead made the decision to contribute a significant gift to support research at the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC) to better understand the impact of COVID-19 infection in both the long and short term. We were keen to understand how it affected the entire body and if those infected would develop life-long health concerns.

The ANPC have developed a unique, global, collaborative study that includes COVID-19 positive samples from around the world including Cambridge University, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Heidelberg University and other research groups in Spain, Malaysia, Germany and Mauritius. The database currently has more than 50,000 entries, including positive infection data from children in the US, and is expected to be the most comprehensive set of COVID-19 samples in the world.

The research has identified several very important findings including markers that can assist in predicting the way the disease will manifest, the prediction of severity, and improved methods for predicting the possible recovery of patients. This is incredibly valuable information that will assist in a greater understanding of the need to monitor patients for longer-term risks as well as identify possible life-impacting side effects of the virus for shorter term diagnosis and treatment.

In just 12 months the research project has resulted in 13 international publications and is now seeking significant further funding from NHMRC and MRFF grants to develop modelling for objective classification of disease and risk-based stratification to facilitate improved strategies for clinical management and translation to patient care.”