Our response to Coronavirus

Leading figures from the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian discuss and reflect on how they combined their expertise and worked together to analyse emerging Covid-19 data and define NHS Grampian response to the pandemic.

Speakers: Professor Corri Black (Director of the Centre for Health Data Science, University of Aberdeen), Dr Nick Fluck (Medical Director for NHS Grampian), Dr Graham Osler (Health intelligence Analyst, NHS Grampian) and Dr Dimitra Blana (Lecturer in Health Data Science, University of Aberdeen).

Researchers across the world are grappling with the implications of Covid-19, looking to understand more about the virus and inform policymaking. The University of Aberdeen has been playing its part.

Physicists at the University have constructed a mathematical model based on tested and untested infectious individuals using data from the early stages of the outbreak in Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and the Hubei province in China.

The model has led them to believe that lockdowns will not create enough herd immunity to control and eradicate Covid-19, but the measure is probably our best approach while we wait for a vaccine or faster and more thorough mass testing.

The team conclude that without thorough and extensive screening, carriers of the infection that display no symptoms – which are currently missed by most countries – will continue to spread Covid-19 widely. As such, they say, any isolation of infected individuals must take into account those who do not display symptoms.

A study that uses patient data to track the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic in near real time across Scotland is set to launch.

The project – which has been awarded £500,000 of funding from the Medical Research Council – will also be able to track the effectiveness of any new treatments or vaccines.

The study is a collaboration between the University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh, University of Strathclyde, Health Protection Scotland (part of Public Health Scotland), West of Scotland Specialist Virology Centre and endorsed by the Scottish Government.

By accessing the anonymised electronic health records of at least 1.2 million people across Scotland, experts say it should be possible to form a more complete picture of the impact that Covid-19 is having on people’s health.

Aberdeen researchers will use artificial intelligence to try to fast-track a test to allow mass screening for Covid-19, after the £140,000 project was green lit by the Scottish Government.

The University of Aberdeen team will work with Vertebrate Antibodies Ltd (VAL) and will use VAL’s proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) technology to identify the specific elements of the virus that trigger the body’s defence systems.

It’s hoped this approach could allow the development of a sensitive test that could be used for mass screening of NHS staff/keyworkers, identification of high-risk patients/carriers, provide data on the prevalence of Covid-19, surveillance and in the future allow targeted vaccination programs.

Lead investigator, Professor Mirela Delibegovic from the School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen said: “By working with VAL’s team and using their established expertise in antibody design and production enhanced by harnessing artificial intelligence, we hope to create a diagnostic test that can quickly and effectively identify Covid-19 in individuals.”

“By employing this innovative approach, we hope to achieve high-throughput capacity in a proven format that will enable mass testing which could benefit key workers and the most vulnerable members of society.”