Simon M
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
£18.5 million awarded to new research projects to understand and treat long COVID
The NIHR and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI - the MRC is included in this) have funded four new research studies to better understand and address the longer-term effects of COVID-19 on physical and mental health.
The new research projects, which have been awarded a total of £18.5 million, will help to better understand the causes, symptoms and treatment of what is known as ‘long COVID’.
The projects were chosen following a UK-wide call to fund ambitious and comprehensive research into causes, mechanisms and management of the longer term symptoms of COVID-19 in people who were not unwell enough to be admitted to hospital.
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These four studies are mostly interesting, certainly with elements that could be applied to ME/CFS studies
...
What follows is my light edit of key sections from the above press release.
1. REACT long COVID (REACT-LC) - £5.4 million
Professor Paul Elliott, Imperial College London
This project aims to characterise and better understand the genetic, biological, social and environmental signatures and pathways of long COVID. It will also identify factors affecting why some people experience long term health effects of COVID-19, while others do not.
This is based on the REACT community study which has over 30,000 people with a positive test and 90,000 who tested negative.
Patient information research: People will be sent a survey and participants with long co-will be invited to enjoy a panel, with 60 invited for in-depth interviews. The researchers will develop a set of patient reported outcomes that reflect the symptoms most important of people living with long co-Covid.
Biological research: to understand more about mechanisms behind symptoms and perhaps point the way to treatments, up to 8000 people with positive tests, including at least 4000 with long Covid, will be invited for health tests and samples to test for genetic and other biological markers.
2. Therapies for long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals: from symptoms, patient-reported outcomes and immunology to targeted therapies (The TLC Study) - £2.3m
Dr Shamil Haroon and Professor Melanie Calvert, University of Birmingham
This will identify and recruit thousands of non-hospitalised people into a major clinical digital study.
This project aims to identify which treatments are most likely to benefit people with particular symptoms of long COVID and test supportive treatments to improve their quality of life.
Patient information: The researchers will identify around 2000 patients with long COVID from GP records. study participants will be invited to use a digital platform to report long COVID symptoms/quality of life.
Biology: A subgroup of around 300 patients will receive blood and other biological tests to understand the immunology of long COVID and will wear a device that will measure their heart rate, oxygen saturation, step count and sleep quality.
The researchers will review evidence for long COVID treatments, including drugs or supportive interventions (e.g. for mental health or tiredness). Working with patients, doctors and other experts, the researchers will recommend treatments that should be tested in long COVID patients and co-produce a targeted intervention for long COVID, tailored to individual patient need.
This will be delivered remotely in the community, via the Atom5TM app, providing critical support and information to empower patients in self-managing long COVID. In addition, they will provide tailored resources to support symptom management and nurse-led support for those with the severest symptoms.
This is clearly a behavioural/information approach (I guess it could be pacing, and that is what patients might recommend, but good equally be psychosocial).
3. Characterisation, determinants, mechanisms and consequences of the long-term effects of COVID-19: providing the evidence base for health care services
- £9.6 million
Professor Nishi Chaturvedi, University College London
Aims to define what long COVID is and improve diagnosis. It will address why some people get the condition, the typical effects on a person’s health and ability to work, and the factors which affect recovery. It will also look at how best to ensure patients are able to access the right treatment and support through health services.
using data from anonymised NHS records and existing studies: T0k, all ages across the country.
People recruited from these studies reporting long COVID and comparator groups, will be asked to:
Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
This research project aims to characterise symptoms typical of long COVID in non-hospitalised children and young people. .. The study will provide data to help doctors to diagnose long COVID, establish how common it is, risk factors, and how long it goes on for
The NIHR and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI - the MRC is included in this) have funded four new research studies to better understand and address the longer-term effects of COVID-19 on physical and mental health.
The new research projects, which have been awarded a total of £18.5 million, will help to better understand the causes, symptoms and treatment of what is known as ‘long COVID’.
The projects were chosen following a UK-wide call to fund ambitious and comprehensive research into causes, mechanisms and management of the longer term symptoms of COVID-19 in people who were not unwell enough to be admitted to hospital.
===
These four studies are mostly interesting, certainly with elements that could be applied to ME/CFS studies
- large cohort to gather info online/through an app.
- Recruit smaller group to hospital testing and using wearable to measure sleep, heart rate, breathing etc.
...
What follows is my light edit of key sections from the above press release.
1. REACT long COVID (REACT-LC) - £5.4 million
Professor Paul Elliott, Imperial College London
This project aims to characterise and better understand the genetic, biological, social and environmental signatures and pathways of long COVID. It will also identify factors affecting why some people experience long term health effects of COVID-19, while others do not.
This is based on the REACT community study which has over 30,000 people with a positive test and 90,000 who tested negative.
Patient information research: People will be sent a survey and participants with long co-will be invited to enjoy a panel, with 60 invited for in-depth interviews. The researchers will develop a set of patient reported outcomes that reflect the symptoms most important of people living with long co-Covid.
Biological research: to understand more about mechanisms behind symptoms and perhaps point the way to treatments, up to 8000 people with positive tests, including at least 4000 with long Covid, will be invited for health tests and samples to test for genetic and other biological markers.
2. Therapies for long COVID in non-hospitalised individuals: from symptoms, patient-reported outcomes and immunology to targeted therapies (The TLC Study) - £2.3m
Dr Shamil Haroon and Professor Melanie Calvert, University of Birmingham
This will identify and recruit thousands of non-hospitalised people into a major clinical digital study.
This project aims to identify which treatments are most likely to benefit people with particular symptoms of long COVID and test supportive treatments to improve their quality of life.
Patient information: The researchers will identify around 2000 patients with long COVID from GP records. study participants will be invited to use a digital platform to report long COVID symptoms/quality of life.
Biology: A subgroup of around 300 patients will receive blood and other biological tests to understand the immunology of long COVID and will wear a device that will measure their heart rate, oxygen saturation, step count and sleep quality.
The researchers will review evidence for long COVID treatments, including drugs or supportive interventions (e.g. for mental health or tiredness). Working with patients, doctors and other experts, the researchers will recommend treatments that should be tested in long COVID patients and co-produce a targeted intervention for long COVID, tailored to individual patient need.
This will be delivered remotely in the community, via the Atom5TM app, providing critical support and information to empower patients in self-managing long COVID. In addition, they will provide tailored resources to support symptom management and nurse-led support for those with the severest symptoms.
This is clearly a behavioural/information approach (I guess it could be pacing, and that is what patients might recommend, but good equally be psychosocial).
3. Characterisation, determinants, mechanisms and consequences of the long-term effects of COVID-19: providing the evidence base for health care services
- £9.6 million
Professor Nishi Chaturvedi, University College London
Aims to define what long COVID is and improve diagnosis. It will address why some people get the condition, the typical effects on a person’s health and ability to work, and the factors which affect recovery. It will also look at how best to ensure patients are able to access the right treatment and support through health services.
using data from anonymised NHS records and existing studies: T0k, all ages across the country.
People recruited from these studies reporting long COVID and comparator groups, will be asked to:
- wear a wrist band measuring exercise ability, breathing, and heart rate.
- complete online questionnaires on mental health and cognitive function.
- visit a clinic for non-invasive imaging to look at potential damage to vital organs, such as the brain, lungs and heart.
Professor Sir Terence Stephenson, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health
This research project aims to characterise symptoms typical of long COVID in non-hospitalised children and young people. .. The study will provide data to help doctors to diagnose long COVID, establish how common it is, risk factors, and how long it goes on for