Funding boost for Fife team researching coronavirus

Researchers at the University of St Andrews have won new backing to help their innovative coronavirus work.

The backing comes from Medical Research Scotland which aims to advance the global medical community's treatment and management of the pandemic.

St Andrews is one of 21 research projects to be supported by a £350,000 funding pot.

Clinical studies will investigate why individuals have different symptoms; how the disease progresses in extremely ill patients; how the virus impairs lung function in COVID-19 patients; the effect of ventilation on the heart as well as the impact of the virus on patients with congenital heart disease.

From the social sciences, researchers will look at how to develop appropriate and clear COVID-19 messages for the most vulnerable in society as well as the experience of staff working in critical care and the lessons which can be learnt.

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Within therapeutics, studies will seek to develop and test the usefulness of drugs that aid the body’s immune system in the fight against COVID-19 and prevent the virus from replicating within human cells.

Professor Philip Winn, who chairs the MRS,said: “In the last few months, there has been a global research and development effort to better understand and treat COVID-19. Scotland has a leading role to play with world-class research teams and the cutting-edge science needed to do this.

“We are proud to support research into COVID-19. We moved quickly to provide funding to research projects that help understand and combat the disease and hope that our prompt actions in supporting excellent labs will enable them to deliver the quality science that will beat this virus.”

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