The University of Glasgow is at the heart of the COVID-19 research response in Scotland and the UK.

Scientists at the University are currently working on a number of vital COVID-19 related research projects, including vaccines, testing, treatment, virus behaviour, health complications and the wider effects of the pandemic on society.

The MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) is working in partnership with colleagues across the UK on a range of crucial research areas related to the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, including working on the new variant first discovered in the UK. 

In early 2021 it was announced scientists at the CVR would join G2P-UK, a new national research project to study the effects of emerging SARS-CoV-2 mutations, while the centre would also lead the establishment of CRUSH, a COVID-19 drug screening and resistance hub in Scotland.

Alongside investigating the new variant, since the emergence of COVID-19 researchers in Glasgow have worked on a range of projects to discover and understand more about the novel coronavirus. 

Researchers and clinicians in Glasgow will also lead a global study into the longer-term health impacts of COVID-19. The international, multi-site study is launched by ISARIC to measure prevalence and risk factors of long-term health and psychosocial consequences of the disease and is led by Dr Janet Scott, also from the CVR. 

Key COVID-19 research milestones at UofG

Professor Massimo Palmarini, Director of the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, said: “The CVR and its scientists are at the centre of Scotland’s – and the UK’s – response to the current coronavirus outbreak. As the largest group of virologists in the UK with the facilities to handle samples from infected patients, we are well placed to conduct pivotal research into emerging diseases such as COVID-19.

“In the coming weeks and months, our scientists will continue to work in collaboration with NHS Scotland, sequencing the virus, as well as conducting further research into SARS-CoV-2, its mechanisms of action and potential therapies.”

In early March 2020, CVR scientists working in partnership with the NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre, rapidly sequenced the virus from the first COVID-19 patient confirmed in Scotland.

Professor Emma Thomson, Dr Ana Da Silva Filipe and a team of scientists at the Centre, will continue to rapidly sequence SARS-CoV-2 virus from COVID-19  samples obtained from patients, from across Scotland, as long as the outbreak lasts. This genomic information will be made publically available immediately following sequencing and genomic analysis.

The rapid sequencing of COVID-19 samples is essential to further research into the virus. Scientists from around the world are able to extract information from the genetic code – or blueprint – of this new coronavirus, that will ultimately help the creation of vaccines.

Dr Ana Filipe, Head of the CVR’s Viral Genomics facility who led the efforts to rapidly sequence this virus said: “The rapid turnaround of the sample and interpretation of the data was only possible due to excellent coordination between clinicians, diagnostic labs, and research partners. These collaborations are critically important to ensuring an effective response to outbreaks like this. Equally important is the trend of open sharing of reagents and protocols amongst researchers and the public sharing of sequencing data, which has been a defining feature of the response to recent viral epidemics”.

Speaking in the media recently, Professor Emma Thomson said: “We know that we need to respond rapidly to this outbreak, which is why this laboratory has taken the decision to prioritise efforts to sequence and understand this virus.”

The CVR is also a partner in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC), while Dr Antonia Ho – a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the CVR and Honorary Consultant in Infectious Diseases – is currently coordinating the recruitment of Scottish patients to the ISARIC UK Clinical Characterisation Protocol., The study aims to answer urgent questions on how to treat patients and control the outbreak in the UK. CVR will act as the repository for samples from patients recruited to this protocol in Scotland, and will undertake full genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 from these samples.

The CVR is also working to develop a toolbox of reagents that will help current and future studies of this virus. This includes a  partnership with the MRC Phosphorylation Unit at the University of Dundee to generate antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. All of these reagents will be made available to the research community.

The MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR) was established in 2010 and represents the UK’s largest grouping of human and veterinary virologists. The CVR is embedded within the Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation at the University of Glasgow which provides excellent research opportunities to investigate virus-host interactions and immune response to virus infection. The Centre is funded by the Medical Research Council, the UK’s leading publicly funded biomedical research organisation, and by a variety of other funding bodies including the Wellcome Trust, the BBSRC, EU and others.

Research into the effects of COVID-19 is also taking place across the world. Sally Mtenga is leading an interdisciplinary study entitled' Healthcare and Socio-economic Impacts of COVID-19 on Patients with Diabetes in Tanzania and Kenya'. This study, which involves collaborators in Tanzania and Kenya, was recently awarded £800K funding by NIHR in the GECO funding call.

 

Enquiries: ali.howard@glasgow.ac.uk or elizabeth.mcmeekin@glasgow.ac.uk / 0141 330 6557 or 0141 330 4831

First published: 26 January 2021

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