At the start of the COVID‑19 pandemic, researchers and volunteers quickly came together to support research into the virus, its genetics, and vaccine development. This collaboration led to the creation of the COVID‑19 BioResource, helping advance scientific research nationally and internationally.
The COVID-19 BioResource was launched in early 2020 as a direct response to the emerging pandemic. Drawing on our expertise in sample handling and our established participant contributions, we have supported major studies investigating the genetics of COVID-19 and contributed significantly to global research efforts.
This short film explains how the BioResource adapted during the pandemic. Although much of our usual activity paused in March 2020, we quickly established a dedicated COVID-19 BioResource, with more than 8,000 registered participants.
The video features our Director, Dr Nathalie Kingston, who outlines why the BioResource is uniquely placed to support health research and why rapid action was essential. It also includes interviews with University of Cambridge researchers Professor Ravi Gupta and Dr Adam Abdullahi, who have used the COVID-19 BioResource in their work, as well as one of our volunteers, Robert, who shares his experience of taking part.
We are no longer recruiting participants to our COVID-19 BioResource, although research using the cohort continues.
Over the last 2.5 years, we recruited a wide range of people, including those who:
We also supported vaccine research by recruiting volunteers who had been or were due to be vaccinated. As with all BioResource programmes, we included participants who had not been diagnosed with COVID-19. Michael and Tish's story highlights this aspect of our work.
Our researchers have carried out extensive phenotyping studies, tracking patient outcomes and disease severity over time. All COVID-19 related studies we have supported can be found on our Studies page.
Visit our Participants section for further information or contact us today.
Publications
Research using the COVID-19 BioResource has already produced a substantial number of publications. These can be viewed on our publications page
Researchers
Researchers interested in COVID-19 studies can find guidance on applying for NIHR BioResource support, including our COVID-19 specific application form.
GenOMICC study
We are a key partner in the GenOMICC study - a major whole genome sequencing project across the NHS.
The study analyses the genomes of people who have been in intensive care with coronavirus, as well as those with mild or moderate symptoms.
It’s long-term aim is to build a comprehensive catalogue of human genetic variation related to COVID-19 by recruiting every single COVID-19 patient who admitted to intensive care in the UK.
