Understanding the link between Covid-19 and cardiovascular diseases  

Scientists at UCL will lead two 'flagship' studies, announced by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), which will investigate the link between Covid-19 and heart disease. The studies, two of six UK-wide projects launched by BHF and NIHR this week,  aim to find ways of improving treatments for Covid-19 patients who also have cardiovascular disease. A team led by Prof essor Aroon Hingorani (UCL Institute of Cardiovascular Science and UCL BHF Research Accelerator) with Prof Deborah Lawlor (University of Bristol), will investigate how genetic, demographic and lifestyle factors, as well as which pre-existing cardiovascular conditions and medications, affect susceptibility to Covid-19 and its severity. The COVIDITY COHORT project will combine large sets of population health data - which people have consented to provide - with national data resources on SARS-CoV-2 infection and Covid-19 patient outcomes, and researchers will analyse the data jointly to provide more reliable answers. Professor Hingorani said: "We hope to identify genetic and other risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19, and to understand why patients with cardiovascular and related diseases might be at higher risk. We hope to generate insights into the processes underlying COVID-19 susceptibility and severity and through this to identify those who might be more at risk, and to identify treatment strategies that work by protecting from infection or modifying the disease course." A separate UK-wide team led by Professor Bryan Williams (UCL Chair of Medicine and Director of the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre) will analyse hospital data from across the UK on the outcomes of people with Covid-19.