NIHR Birmingham BRC Response to COVID-19

The NIHR Birmingham BRC has undertaken a large number of activities to help in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic – this includes trials, antibody testing research, research publications, clinical guidelines and a number of educational activities.

We are leading one of three national therapeutic phase 2 platforms (together with Oxford, UCL & Imperial) and have now recruited the first patients to the BRC-supported CATALYST trial. This platform aims to rapidly identify the effectiveness of various drugs to help patients hospitalised with COVID-19 and includes in-house therapies such as mesenchymal stromal cells.

The Birmingham BRC has also made a substantial contribution to the large COVID-19 research delivery team supporting a number of COVID-19 studies across the University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) Trust, including the RECOVERY trial (investigating drugs currently used for other conditions to see if they have benefits for patients with COVID-19), and the REALIST trial (testing the effectiveness of mesenchymal stromal cells as a treatment for patients who have been admitted to ITU with severe complications). For a full list of the UHB COVID-19 studies please click here.

Members of the BRC have also been key contributors to the development of antibody-based testing for the virus; this new assay helped to confirm COVID-19 as trigger for a rare Kawasaki-like syndrome in children and has been used in antibody research taking place across Birmingham and Solihull. Professor Jon Deeks, via our Diagnostics and Biomarkers theme, led a Cochrane-endorsed international consortium looking at the accuracy of biomarker/antibody testing. For more information you can read the recently published Cochrane review, and listen to an update on antibody testing Professor Deeks recorded recently for a BMJ podcast.

Many of our members have been redeployed full-time into clinical practice to support the COVID response on the front line, and we thank them for this.

We have written a number of educational news articles which our members have written or contributed to, with publications in The Guardian, The Conversation and the New Scientist.

Over 15 publications with at least one BRC author have been submitted on the topic of COVID-19. Dr Marietta Iacucci has published an international recommendation on endoscopy in IBD during the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic period (Lancet Gastroenterology) as well as the impact of COVID-19 on gastrointestinal endoscopy training in the UK (Gastroenterology). Professor Janet Lord has been part of an expert advisory group established by the Academy of Medical Sciences and the British Society for Immunology, who published an expert summary which reviewed the limited COVID-19 immunology research available and identified key research priorities. Professor Lord has also been demonstrating how to stay active at home – spot the chickens!

We are so grateful to each and every one of our members for their continued efforts to support the COVID response.

You can keep up to date with all the latest developments on our NIHR Birmingham BRC Twitter account.