Since March 2020, we have dedicated our research resources and facilities locally to support patients being treated for COVID-19.
In the last year over 10,000 people have taken part in research trials in Nottingham. Our research has contributed to breakthroughs in effective treatments and the development of vaccines.
We have also been part of the national and international effort to rapidly build knowledge, data and bioresources to understand the impacts of Coronavirus for all patients.
Long Covid
Our research is continuing, especially looking at the longer-term impacts on patients recovering from COVID-19.
The Nottingham Recovery from COVID-19 Research Platform brings together projects examining the impacts and lasting effects of COVID-19. It aims to translate findings from patients who are known to have contracted the virus into new approaches to treatment to support their recovery.
It also aims to provide new insights for the NHS and social care, enabling services to be more responsive to the long-term impact of caring for patients who are at risk of developing longer term conditions as a consequence of COVID-19.
Long-Covid appeal
We have joined with Nottingham Hospitals Charity to support further research into Long Covid in Nottingham. You can find out all about the appeal on the Charity’s website: https://nottinghamhospitalscharity.org.uk/donate/our-appeals/long-covid-reasearch-appeal
Vaccine
In April 2021 we also opened the Nottingham site for a new national COVID-19 vaccine trial. Developed by specialty vaccine company Valneva, it is the only inactivated, adjuvanted (an ingredient to create a strong immune response) COVID-19 vaccine in clinical development in Europe.
Locally the study is being managed by the team at the NIHR Nottingham Clinical Research Facility and was open to healthy adults who have not had a previous COVID-19 vaccine. The study is now closed to new volunteers, but the team will be continuing to follow-up people who took part over the next year. Full details can be found on the study website: www.ukcovid19study.com
Current COVID-19 research
New study: does COVID-19 affect hearing?
The CHEAR study (COVID and HEARing) is investigating whether symptoms such as hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and balance issues experienced by some people who have had COVID-19 are caused by the infection. If you would like to find out more about this study, which is looking for people to take part now, then you’ll find all the information on the University of Nottingham website or you can email the study team: chear@nottingham.ac.uk
Long Covid research
Expression of interest in research following a diagnosis of COVID-19 but not requiring hospital admission
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If you are interested in research for people with a diagnosis of COVID-19 but who were not treated in hospital, you can sign-up to help our research teams based in the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre who are investigating Long Covid.
Your details will be held in the strictest confidence and encrypted in a secure system. Your details will only be accessible to applicable staff who need to see them.
We will only store details that you provide to us and they will not be passed onto to any others or external organisations.
You can register your interest here: https://nuh.eulogin.redcapcloud.com/survey.jsp?code=dPb5G9gx8LQYkreP
COVID-19 vaccine and flu-like symptoms
New research to understand why some people suffer “flu-like” symptoms after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is about to start in Nottingham. Researchers at the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust will be using MRI scans to look for tiny changes in the brain which might explain the symptoms some people report.
Contact the study team
The AmCOV study will use MRI, blood tests and questionnaires to help identify any changes in the brain and any physical symptoms before and after volunteers have had their COVID-19 vaccine as part of the national vaccine rollout programme. To find out more about the study you can email: Andrea Junor (Andrea.Junor@nottingham.ac.uk), who is one of the research team members, or Professor Dorothee Auer (Dorothee.Auer@nottingham.ac.uk) who is the doctor leading the study.
You can find a full list of COVID-19 research trials taking place at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust online
https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/nuhcovid-19-trials