Determinants of COVID-19 risk and severity
- Research Opportunity
- PhD students
- Department / Centre
- Paediatrics
- Location
- Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research Institute
Primary Supervisor | Number | Webpage | |
---|---|---|---|
Dr Nicole Messina | Personal web page |
Co-supervisor | Number | Webpage | |
---|---|---|---|
Prof Nigel Curtis | nigel.curtis@rch.org.au |
Summary This project will establish an immune signature of COVID-19 susceptibility and reveal key immunological pathways for protection against COVID-19 to be targeted in future vaccine development and COVID-19 treatments.
Project Details
Following SARS-CoV-2 exposure, outcomes range from asymptomatic-mild disease to severe disease and death. There are multiple known clinical and demographic risk factors for severe COVID-19 including age and comorbidities. However, even among high-risk individuals there is high variability in COVID-19 severity.
The BRACE trial is our international RCT of nearly 7000 healthcare workers across 34 sites in five countries. This trial is working to determine if BCG vaccination reduces the impact of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases. The availability of BRACE trial samples taken prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection will give us the unique opportunity to assess associations between the pre-existing immunophenotype with disease severity in COVID-19.
Using the unique collection of samples from the BRACE trial, you will determine how pre-existing interindividual variability in the immune system contributes to the range in the severity of diseases resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this project you will have the opportunity to use a combination of analysis techniques including multi-omic analysis, single cell immunophenotyping, multiplex cytokine assays, and serological analysis.
This project will establish an immune signature of COVID-19 susceptibility and reveal key immunological pathways for protection against COVID-19 to be targeted in future vaccine development and COVID-19 treatments.
The Infectious Diseases Laboratory is located at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, part of the Melbourne Children's Campus, which also includes the Royal Children's Hospital and the University of Melbourne.
Faculty Research Themes
Child Health, Infection and Immunology
School Research Themes
Research Opportunities
PhD students
Students who are interested in joining this project will need to consider their elegibility as well as other requirements before contacting the supervisor of this research
Key Contact
For further information about this research, please contact a supervisor.
Department / Centre
Research Node
Royal Children’s Hospital/Murdoch Childrens Research InstituteMDHS Research library
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