New multi-million research projects announced to tackle future disease threats

Three ambitious research projects will share £25 million in funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), as part of a new effort to improve our understanding of viruses and how the immune system reacts to different challenges. One of the projects, called the G2P2 consortium, will be led by Imperial’s Professor Wendy Barclay and aims to keep pace with the continually evolving variants of SARS-CoV-2. Combining the consortium’s skills in molecular virology, G2P2 will track how genetic changes emerging in the virus affect phenotypes, including: the severity of illness the virus may cause; the range of cell types it can infect; how well it can evade the immune system; and how it is transmitted between people. This will provide an evidence base to inform whether updates to current vaccines are needed and inform changes in policy based on increased risk to population health. Professor Wendy Barclay, head of the Department of Infectious Disease...