Name: COVID-Consortium (COVIDsortium): Front Line Impact of COVID-19

Principal Investigator: Professor James Moon

Leading Institutions: University College London, Barts Charity 

HDR Innovation Gateway Metadata Rating: Gold

Work in COVIDsortium began the day of the UK’s first lockdown in March 2020, and recruited its first 400 participants 9 days later. It is a collaboration between University College London and the Barts Charity.

COVIDsortium has focused on collecting biological samples from healthcare workers who exhibited no symptoms of COVID-19. In addition to blood tests and throat swabs, these participants were asked to provide additional information by answering a questionnaire.

This study 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. COVIDsortium now has a total of 2000 participants recruited from 6 different hospitals, including one partnership in Cape Town, South Africa. This includes at least 500 NHS workers at the St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Royal Free, and NHS Nightingale.

As of June 2022, COVIDsortium has published twenty papers that have been covered in more than 1000 media articles, influencing local and national policy, making it one of the science success stories of the pandemic.