The consortium, named COVID-CNS (COVID Clinical Neuroscience Study), is a biomarker study which involves neurologists, psychiatrists and psychologists.
Led by Dr Benedict Michael (Liverpool) and Professor Gerome Breen (Kings), and will look at 800 UK patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, focussing on the acute neurological complications of the virus, with detailed assessments of not just neurological, but also psychiatric and cognitive sequelae.
This study is based partially on the CoroNerve framework, the Neurology and Psychiatry of COVID-19 surveillance study led by Dr Benedict Michael (Liverpool), Dr Ian Galea (Southampton) and Dr Rhys Thomas (Newcastle).
The project involves more than a dozen research centres from all four nations of the UK and is being led by the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at the University of Liverpool in collaboration with King’s College London.
Newcastle University's Professor John-Paul Taylor comments:
We know that for some people COVID-19 has a major impact on the brain and that people who have had the virus will potentially experience significant neurological and psychiatric problems. However we don’t know yet why this happens and consequently how best to treat these. This study will be vital in helping our understanding and developing better treatments for these serious and potentially long-lasting symptoms.
This project is also supported by and is an integral part of the National Institute of Health Research BioResource which provides research infrastructure to speed up clinical research and clinical trials. Patients of the COVID-CNS study will be consenting to the NIHR BioResource and will be re-contactable to participate in further research into COVID.
COVID-CNS was awarded £2.3m by UK Research and Innovation and the Department of Health and Social Care through the UKRI-NIHR COVID-19 Rapid Response Rolling Call.
Newcastle University colleagues involved are: Professor John-Paul Taylor, Dr Stella Paddick and Dr Rhys Thomas.