Aberdeen University has been granted essential funding to help researchers and scientists work together to combat Covid-19.
A total of 21 of Scotland’s latest coronavirus research projects have been awarded funding by Medical Research Scotland.
The country’s largest independent medical research charity said it had moved quickly to offer more than £350,000 to the clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic and social science studies to help “beat” the virus.
As a result of the programme, researchers at Aberdeen University have received a funding boost alongside the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews and Strathclyde.
Glasgow Royal Infirmary and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service have also been included.
In Aberdeen, the money will boost research into why different people have different symptoms and how the disease progresses in extremely ill ICU patients.
The tea will also look at how excessive fibrin forms and impairs lung function in Covid-19 patients and test the usefulness of drugs that affect the body’s immune system.
Andy Porter, professor of biotechnology at Aberdeen University, said: “We are very pleased to see Medical Research Scotland supporting so many innovative, collaborative and multi-disciplinary research projects.
“The coronavirus pandemic will have wide-ranging implications, well beyond the impact of the disease itself.
“This includes addressing some immediate policy implications as well as facilitating discussions of the bigger, conceptual and philosophical questions surrounding the pandemic – can we find innovative ways to ‘bounce-back better’.”
Among the projects focusing on diagnostics, researchers aim to produce new Covid-19 testing methods to provide more accurate results as well as upgrading existing blood-testing capabilities to better understand the effectiveness of vaccines and control and monitor recurring outbreaks
Professor Philip Winn, chair of Medical Research Scotland, added: “In the last few months, there has been a global research and development effort to better understand and treat Covid-19.
“Scotland has a leading role to play with world-class research teams and the cutting-edge science needed to do this.
“We are proud to support research into Covid-19.
“We moved quickly to provide funding to research projects that help understand and combat the disease and hope that our prompt actions in supporting excellent labs will enable them to deliver the quality science that will beat this virus.”
