Scientists aim to unravel immune system’s response to COVID-19

Researchers at UCL will play a leading role in the new UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium (UK-CIC), which aims to better understand the immune response to COVID-19. UK-CIC has received £6.5m funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and brings together leading immunologists from 17 UK research institutions including UCL. Working together the researchers aim to better understand how the immune system interacts with the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, to help develop better diagnostics, treatments and vaccines against COVID-19. The scientists will also try to understand why some people suffer from severe life-threatening COVID-19 while others have mild or asymptomatic infections but can still transmit the virus. Importantly, these studies will determine when and how immunity persists or whether people can become re-infected. The UK-CIC will investigate five key questions (themes): Why are some people's immune systems better able to fight off the virus? What parts of the immune system are involved in generating a protective response against COVID-19 and how long does this immunity last? How does the immune system respond to SARS-CoV-2 on a molecular and cellular level and what happens when the immune system overreacts? Does immunity to previous infection with seasonal coronaviruses (which cause the common cold) alter a person's outcome with SARS-CoV-2? How does SARS-CoV-2 'hide from' the immune system and how can this be tackled? Professor Mala Maini (UCL Infection & Immunity) is one of five immunologists making up the UK-CIC Operational Team.