COVID-19 research in Intensive Care | Latest news

Clinical researchers at NUH are working as part of the GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study, one of the high priority research studies now urgently seeking answers to COVID-19.

This is one of four trials relating to COVID-19 which are being run by the DREEAM research team at NUH. The eight-strong team - who work closely with clinical staff in the Emergency Department, Critical Care and Major Trauma teams at the QMC and City Hospital - are managing the GenOMICC trial at NUH.

Principal Investigator Megan Meredith, who is a research nurse experienced in emergency and critical care research, said: “When we think of COVID-19 we tend to associate it with elderly patients. However, some younger people have also contracted the virus, so this research is much needed to understand more about genetic susceptibility overall.”

Given that susceptibility to COVID-19 is very likely to be - in part - genetic, and given the nature of the virus pandemic, the National Institute for Health Research has declared this study to be an urgent public health study in the UK.

From this week, blood samples will be collected following the appropriate consent from COVID-19 patients on QMC’s E12 ward (the High Dependency Unit), Adult Intensive Care Unit and A Floor theatres. 

The study also allows for patients to be recruited at City Hospital’s Critical Care unit and from the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

GenOMICC is an open, collaborative community of doctors and scientists seeking to understand and treat critical illnesses, led in the UK by the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh.

Research partners have been recruiting patients since 2016 to study illnesses including emerging illnesses such as SARS and MERS, along with influenza, sepsis, serious burns and pneumonia.

Due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19 was added to the study protocol in March.