The Study

On 13th March 2020, a week before the first UK lockdown, a group of researchers designed the COVIDsortium study.  In one week, they had designed, written and initiated the study – which started on the day of UK lockdown with the first 400 Healthcare workers recruited 9 days later.

We aimed to capture pre-existing immunity, the earliest changes of infection and the changes that occur over time – and to make these samples available to researchers – focusing particularly on mild disease.

With initial funding from the investigators themselves, their friends and families (£300K from Just Giving), funding was rapidly secured from major banks, hedgefunds, private foundations and philanthropists.

18 months later, the study has expanded to 6 hospitals and internationally to Capetown, with a total of 2000 subjects. In London, 5 ethics amendments have permitted the study of each variant as it emerged and the impact of vaccine 1, 2 and boosters.

With COVIDsortium, a group of immunologists, infectious disease doctors and scientists have assembled to address emergent questions for the benefit of society.

Twenty papers have been published to date including papers in Lancet, Science, Nature covered by more than 1000 media articles, influencing local and national policy, making it one of the science success stories of the pandemic. 

List of publications:

Access to the bioresource

We welcome applications to access the bioresource from both academic and industrial research groups.

Further details of the study design can be found in the For Researchers pages. All applications to access the bioresource should be made via the Apply for Access on-line Form.

News and Media Coverage

Our study has been covered by media outlets and medical journals. See the News page for further detail.

Participants and Institutions

We have recruited more than 500 healthy health care workers from St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Royal Free Hospital, NHS Nightingale and a sister study has been set up in Cape Town.

Watch this space for further detail and look at the For Participants page for more information.

Support

We are extremely grateful for all the support that we have received. The contributions have been invaluable for helping us get the study off the ground when conventional funding routes were not available.