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ISARIC - Coronavirus Clinical Characterisation Consortium (ISARIC-4C)

Lead Research Organisation: University of Edinburgh
Department Name: UNLISTED

Abstract

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

Technical Summary

This award is being made in support of urgent research costs to enable sampling amongst UK COVID-19 cases. This is essential in developing diagnostics, therapeutics (monoclonal antibodies) and understanding the pathogen and the natural history of the disease, as well as developing rapid prognostic tools. This funding support will ensure samples are distributed safely to researchers. Research could change the course of the rapidly spreading outbreak.

Publications

10 25 50

publication icon
Callaby H (2025) Monkeypox virus isolation from longitudinal samples in 11 hospitalised patients. in The Lancet. Infectious diseases

 
Title Dawn, on the Morning After the Storm 
Description Dawn, on the Morning After the Storm, is a new work by composer Zakiya Leeming, who has been collaborating with health data researchers since 2018 to create music informed by their work. All performances were recorded independently in lockdown conditions and then compiled by the composer. The piece is a result of discussions with UK members of the global International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC) and COVID-19 Clinical Information Network about their experiences working through the COVID-19 outbreak. ISARIC4C, led by investigators from the University of Edinburgh, University of Liverpool and Imperial College London, is recognised as the sovereign COVID-19 research programme to meet urgent public health needs for the UK. It is a collaboration of over 200 scientists from 11 institutions and NHS teams from 350 hospitals. Outputs from the project have informed the UK's response to the current pandemic, based on data and biological samples from patients in hospitals across the UK, and it is one of the largest COVID-19 projects in the world. When Leeming asked ISARIC4C Chief Investigator, Professor Calum Semple OBE, what a piece about his experience should describe, Semple replied, 'Like Dawn, on the morning after the storm'. For Semple, it was about coming together to play, in the same way the consortium came together to respond to the challenge of the virus. The performance was followed by a recorded discussion between the composer and ISARIC performers. 
Type Of Art Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) 
Year Produced 2021 
Impact 637 views and was streamed live from the Royal Northern College of Music on 17 Jun 2021 
URL https://youtu.be/e0l3S04TfFY
 
Description The key findings for this award are captured in the overarching ISARIC-4C award report.
Exploitation Route Samples and data collected in this study remain available for academic and commercial use.
Sectors Healthcare

Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology

URL http://isaric4c.net/outputs
 
Description This award made it possible for samples and data from the first UK patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection to be obtained and shared across academia, industry and public health. For example, samples obtained under this award were used to make the WHO reference standard which was used for several years to evaluate serological tests.
First Year Of Impact 2020
Sector Chemicals,Healthcare
Impact Types Economic

Policy & public services

 
Description Citation in the Green Book Chapter 14a
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Citation in other policy documents
Impact Have provided early observational data about the first 20,000 UK patients in hospital with COVID-19 (https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1985) and clinical characterisation of children and young people admitted with COVID-19 in the UK (https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3249).
URL https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1057...
 
Description Contributed regularly to Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) COVID-19 Response from meeting 20 in March 2020 to Meeting 105 in February 2022
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
Impact Targeted improvements in Infection prevention control Optimised roll out of vaccination Identified people most at risk of severe disease, likely to deteriorate and die. Explored impact of co-morbidity. Studies associations between ethnicity and outcome.
URL https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/scientific-evidence-supporting-the-government-response-to-...
 
Description Member of NERVTAG
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Membership of a guideline committee
Impact Our analysis informed vaccine prioritisation schedules, with two citations in Chapter 14A of The Green Book "Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination information for public health professionals." See Docherty AB et al BMJ 2020 and Swann OV et BMJ 2020 We developed the most widely used risk stratification tool to better identify those people at risk of death and deterioration. We allowed target intervention at sites where nosocomial infection rates were high.
URL https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a
 
Guideline Title Interim Clinical Commissioning Policy: Antivirals or neutralising monoclonal antibodies for non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19
Description Use of antivirals or neutralising monoclonal antibodies for non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Citation in clinical guidelines
Impact antivirals or neutralising monoclonal antibodies (nMABs) are recommended to be available as a treatment option through routine commissioning for non-hospitalised adults with COVID-19 treated in accordance with the criteria set out in the policy. Hospitals were strongly encouraged to submit data through the ISARIC4C Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP) case report forms (CRFs).
URL https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2021/12/C1603-interim-ccp-antivir...
 
Description A UK underpinning platform to study immunology and immunopathology of COVID-19:The UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium
Amount £6,552,119 (GBP)
Funding ID MR/V028448/1 
Organisation Medical Research Council (MRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2020 
End 12/2022
 
Description Clinical Characterisation of COVID-19 admitted to hospitals in the United Kingdom
Amount £11,151,859 (GBP)
Funding ID CO-CIN-01 
Organisation National Institute for Health and Care Research 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2020 
End 11/2023
 
Description ISARIC Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK (CCP-UK) - a companion study for patients with Cancer and COVID-19 (CCP-CANCER-UK)
Amount £344,930 (GBP)
Funding ID MR/V028979/1 
Organisation Medical Research Council (MRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2020 
End 03/2022
 
Description Non-hospitalised Children & young people (CYP) with Long Covid (The CLoCk Study)
Amount £680,000 (GBP)
Funding ID MC_PC_20052 
Organisation Medical Research Council (MRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2021 
End 02/2024
 
Description OpenSAFELY, ISARIC, PHOSP: tracking consequences of COVID-19 infection across UK primary and secondary care.
Amount £613,528 (GBP)
Funding ID MR/W016729/1 
Organisation Medical Research Council (MRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2021 
End 08/2023
 
Description PHOSP-COVID Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study: a national consortium to understand and improve long-term health outcomes
Amount £8,914,274 (GBP)
Funding ID MR/V027859/1 
Organisation Medical Research Council (MRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2020 
End 08/2026
 
Description The UK Interstitial Lung Disease Long-COVID19 study (UKILD-Long COVID): understanding the burden of Interstitial Lung Disease in Long COVID.
Amount £2,014,983 (GBP)
Funding ID MR/W006111/1 
Organisation Medical Research Council (MRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2021 
End 08/2023
 
Title 4C Deterioration Score 
Description A new risk-stratification tool which can accurately predict the likelihood of deterioration in adults hospitalised with COVID-19.The tool assesses 11 measurements routinely collected from patients, including age, gender, and physical measurements (such as oxygen levels) along with some standard laboratory tests and calculates a percentage risk of deterioration, known as the '4C Deterioration Score'. 
Type Of Material Physiological assessment or outcome measure 
Year Produced 2021 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The online tool, has been made freely available to NHS doctors to support clinicians' decision making - helping to improve patient outcomes and ultimately save lives. 
URL https://isaric4c.net/risk/
 
Title 4C Mortality Score 
Description Using data from 57, 824 hospital admissions, we developed and validated an easy-to-use risk stratification score based on commonly available parameters at hospital presentation. The 4C Mortality Score outperformed existing scores, showed utility to directly inform clinical decision making, and can be used to stratify patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 into different management groups 
Type Of Material Physiological assessment or outcome measure 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The 4C Mortality Score has been extensively validated in independent studies across the world. The 4C Mortality Score has also been used to inform clinical practice in the UK and to guide inform national prescribing guidance for Remdesivir. 
URL https://isaric4c.net/risk/v2/
 
Title ISARIC4C Tier 1 and 2 Biological Samples 
Description Any investigator with the resources and capability can apply to access ISARIC4C biological materials. Access to samples obtained using the Clinical Characterisation Protocol (CCP) can be requested and includes the following: Serum (Clotted) Plasma (EDTA tubes) Cell pellets (extracted immediately for genotyping) Blood in blood RNA tube (extracted immediately for RNA seq) Combined nose and throat swab, otherwise a throat swab or nasopharyngeal swab alone Nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) Urine Rectal swab or stool specimen Samples/swabs from infected sites or sores 
Type Of Material Biological samples 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact The ISARIC4C sample access request process allowed rapid sample sharing with the Oxford COVID Vaccine Trial Group (https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31604-4) and has led to the incorporation of several new research groups into the consortium. This includes lipidomics and urinary and faecal metabolomics. The sample access process also allowed sample sharing with several other consortiums including HICC and CiC, and high-impact projects including COVID-CNS and COVIRNA. 
URL https://isaric4c.net/sample_access/
 
Title Adeno-associated virus 2 infection in children with non-A-E hepatitis 
Description Extended datasets for PCR, serology and NGS experiments 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Adeno-associated_virus_2_infection_in_children_...
 
Title GWAS and meta-analysis identifies 49 genetic variants underlying critical Covid-19 
Description Full GWAS data are browsable and available for download at https://genomicc.org/data cohorts.xlsx - Tabular details of geno. typing methods, phenotypes and other characteristics of each cohort included in meta-analyses credible_sets.xlsx - Full table of credible sets of variants obtained from fine-mapping for each genome-wide significant region. gene_level.xlsx - Full results of gene-level analysis, aggregating statistical data for all variants relating to each protein-coding gene. GSMR_eQTL.tsv - Full results from GSMR analysis for RNA expression. GSMR_pQTL.tsv - Full results from GSMR analysis for protein level. twas.xlsx - Full results for colocalisation and TWAS analyses in lung, blood, monocytes and across multiple tissue types. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/GWAS_and_meta-analysis_identifies_49_genetic_va...
 
Title GWAS and meta-analysis identifies 49 genetic variants underlying critical Covid-19 
Description Full GWAS data are browsable and available for download at https://genomicc.org/data cohorts.xlsx - Tabular details of geno. typing methods, phenotypes and other characteristics of each cohort included in meta-analyses credible_sets.xlsx - Full table of credible sets of variants obtained from fine-mapping for each genome-wide significant region. gene_level.xlsx - Full results of gene-level analysis, aggregating statistical data for all variants relating to each protein-coding gene. GSMR_eQTL.tsv - Full results from GSMR analysis for RNA expression. GSMR_pQTL.tsv - Full results from GSMR analysis for protein level. twas.xlsx - Full results for colocalisation and TWAS analyses in lung, blood, monocytes and across multiple tissue types. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/GWAS_and_meta-analysis_identifies_49_genetic_va...
 
Title Outbreak data analysis platform (ODAP) 
Description Scope: The purpose of the ODAP is to facilitate biomedical research to advance understanding of disease caused by emerging or re-emerging pathogens* or other exposures** of public health interest. Research within the ODAP is strictly limited to this purpose. *Emerging or re-emerging pathogens of public health interest: this term describes new infectious agents, and new, re-emerging or therapy-resistant forms of existing infectious agents. **Other exposures of public health interest: this term describes new or unexplained poisoning, or exposure to harmful energy sources such as electromagnetic radiation. What it is: The purpose of the outbreak data analysis platform is to provide an accessible, usable data resource to enable research relevant to COVID-19 and future outbreaks. This will accelerate scientific understanding of new outbreaks for the benefit of patients and the protection of the public. It will create a UK-wide capability by curating and linking outbreak relevant data from clinical records, research studies and audit data. It brings together key initiatives and leadership across the UK including ISARIC, COG-UK, MRC CLIMB and GenOMICC. The platform combines a national Trusted Research Environment (TRE) infrastructure collocated with >£100M of world-class computational and data science capacity including the UK National Supercomputer, with a UK-wide governance framework. 
Type Of Material Data handling & control 
Year Produced 2020 
Provided To Others? Yes  
Impact We have served 138 data access requests, resulting in secondary use, multiple following grant awards and collaborations including pharma some of which have already been published 
URL https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EFmp9HEKyZiaJXb1YbW4lXvsuu8wQe9F7_CzUK12eA4/edit#gid=0
 
Title Systematic evaluation of clinical severity outcomes in Covid-19 
Description This dataset shows the raw data used for Figure 1c of our manuscript "Evaluation of pragmatic oxygenation measurement as a proxy for Covid-19 severity". In order to optimisation of cut-off value for SaO2 using predictive validity, we calculated the error in the prediction of a future PaO2, based on a previous one (using a pre-existing dataset of ABG results, DOI: 10.1101/491167). Median average error is presented in rows for each pair of results from a patients, witj columns for each threshold of SaO2 used in the calculation of SF ratio. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Systematic_evaluation_of_clinical_severity_outc...
 
Title Systematic evaluation of clinical severity outcomes in Covid-19 
Description This dataset shows the raw data used for Figure 1c of our manuscript "Evaluation of pragmatic oxygenation measurement as a proxy for Covid-19 severity". In order to optimisation of cut-off value for SaO2 using predictive validity, we calculated the error in the prediction of a future PaO2, based on a previous one (using a pre-existing dataset of ABG results, DOI: 10.1101/491167). Median average error is presented in rows for each pair of results from a patients, witj columns for each threshold of SaO2 used in the calculation of SF ratio. 
Type Of Material Database/Collection of data 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? Yes  
URL https://springernature.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Systematic_evaluation_of_clinical_severity_outc...
 
Description CCP-Cancer-UK 
Organisation The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution Patients with Cancer have been severely affected by COVID-19. Vaccination means that the risks from COVID-19 have decreased for many people. But patients with cancer sometimes do not respond to the vaccine in the same way as other people due to the powerful anti-cancer treatments that these patients need to take and its effect on their immune system. This study is a multi-disciplinary project involving experts in cancer medicine, infectious disease, critical care, patient representative and data scientists. ISARIC4C will work with CCP-Cancer UK to collect more detailed data on cancer patients. ISARIC4C has recruited nearly a quarter of a million patients across the UK admitted to hospital with COVID-19. CCP-UK collects data and where possible samples from these patients.
Collaborator Contribution The purpose of CCP-CANCER UK study is to obtain additional data from patients with cancer who were/are recruited into ISARIC4C study which is the key national protocol for characterising COVID19 in the UK population. This study is designed to supplement, not replace. CCP-Cancer UK, will collect additional information about their cancer type, when the cancer was diagnosed, and treatments. The CCP-Cancer UK study will also do some work in the laboratory with the biological samples collected by the national study to answer cancer specific questions.
Impact This study is a multi-disciplinary project involving experts in cancer medicine, infectious disease, critical care, patient representative and data scientists. Data was presented at the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO) conference in 2021, showed that, although there has been a steady decline in mortality rates for people with no history of cancer since January 2020, the same is not true for people with a history of cancer. Furthermore, the gap in mortality between people with a history of cancer and those with no history of cancer widened between February 2021 and July 2021.
Start Year 2020
 
Description ISARIC4C/BHIVA 
Organisation British HIV Association (BHIVA)
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Charity/Non Profit 
PI Contribution Data from 47,539 people with laboratory confirmed or highly likely COVID-19 from the ISARIC CCP-UK study was used to define how HIV influences COVID-19.
Collaborator Contribution Our collaborators at the British HIV Association provided technical skills in analysing the data and expertise in explaining the results in the wider context.
Impact Outcomes of COVID-19 related hospitalisation among people with HIV in the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK Protocol: prospective observational study. (https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa1605)
Start Year 2020
 
Description NHS Digital 
Organisation NHS Digital
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution ISARIC CCP and ODAP is continuing to work closely with NHS Digital to provide a deeper understanding of COVID-19 using linked NHS-health data.
Collaborator Contribution We have provided updates to government and policy makers to guide the pandemic response.
Impact "it has captured a large proportion of UK hospital cases and it has proven extremely useful to both SAGE and SPI-M. It has, for example, been vital in identifying risk factors associated with poor outcomes as well as well as early signs of the prevalence of hospital-acquired infection." Sir Patrick Vallance, UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Science and Engineering Profession, written evidence to Parliament (24 July 2020) https://isaric4c.net/outputs/
Start Year 2021
 
Description NHS Digital - NCCID/ISARIC4C 
Organisation NHS Digital
Country United Kingdom 
Sector Public 
PI Contribution The National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database (NCCID) is a centralized database containing mainly chest X-rays and computed tomography scans from patients across the UK. The objective of the initiative is to support a better understanding of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) and the development of machine learning technologies that will improve care for patients hospitalized with a severe COVID-19 infection. ISARIC4C collaborated with the study team to provide data to the project.
Collaborator Contribution The NCCID is a growing resource that provides researchers with a large, high-quality database that can be leveraged both to support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and as a test bed for building clinically viable medical imaging models (https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giab076).
Impact An overview of the National COVID-19 Chest Imaging Database: data quality and cohort analysis (https://academic.oup.com/gigascience/article/10/11/giab076/6437679). Multi-disciplinary - clinicians, radiographers, and scientists.
Start Year 2020
 
Title Diagnostic Evaluation Platform 
Description We proposed and established a Diagnostic Evaluation Platform at the University of Oxford (led by Dr Alex Mentzer) which was used to provide evidence to the UK government about the performance of new diagnostic and antibody tests. 
Type Support Tool - For Medical Intervention
Current Stage Of Development Small-scale adoption
Year Development Stage Completed 2020
Development Status Closed
Impact The results from the Diagnostic Evaluation Platform was used to provide evidence to the UK government about test performance (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15927.1) 
URL https://isaric4c.net/sample_access/
 
Title Clinical Guidelines Browser 
Description This is a web interface to be able to browse clinical hospital guidelines in the UK. 
Type Of Technology Webtool/Application 
Year Produced 2020 
Impact This document browsing system was initially developed as part of Work Package 8 (Facilitating translation to local clinical guidelines) of the ISARIC4C consortium, with the intention of creating a searchable collection of clinical guidelines.. Building on this work, a new version of this tool but applied to SAGE and NERVTAG meeting minutes has been made available. 
URL https://clinicalguidelines.net
 
Description Alastair Stewart & Friends; Guest Interview on 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Discussion on COVID-19 impact on society
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14844278/?ref_=nm_flmg_slf_1
 
Description Co-Chair UK Pandemic Science Network (UKPSN) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The UK Pandemic Science Networks brings together the UK's leading research teams to support pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. Current Chairs are Professor Emma Thomson (MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research) and Professor Kenneth Baillie (Baillie Gifford Pandemic Science Hub, University of Edinburgh).
The UK's science and innovation-led approach to combatting COVID-19 has delivered major national and global benefits at record speed. This has leveraged expertise and capabilities from across a wide range of leading UK universities, academic institutions and life science companies. The UK Pandemic Sciences Network (UKPSN) was formed in 2022 to build upon this and improve our responsiveness to future pandemic threats.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024,2025
URL https://ukpsn.org/
 
Description Interview for national news 
Form Of Engagement Activity A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Patients, carers and/or patient groups
Results and Impact The ISARIC CCP UK team were the first to report worldwide on the likely cause of hepatitis of unknown origin in children. This was widely reported in the press including printed media and television.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://news.sky.com/story/common-viruses-may-be-reason-for-hepatitis-cases-in-children-researchers-...
 
Description Kay Burley Sky News: Interview 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Updates on science of COVID-19 and impact of medicines, vaccinations, behavioural change
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020,2021,2022
URL https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11426855/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1