COVID-19 Research Funding

In May of 2020 the Foundation committed funding to an urgent, fast-tracked fund specifically for COVID-19 medical research. In these extraordinary times, we responded rapidly to the need for research in this area with a single round of grants and have used a truncated application and review process for awarding funds.

These funds have now been awarded, read on to learn more. 

T cell responses in COVID-19

Associate Professor James Ussher
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago

Understanding the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, the cause of COVID-19, is critical for understanding protection against reinfection and for vaccine design. In this study we evaluated T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 in patients who had recovered from COVID-19. Blood, collected at various time points post infection, was stimulated with fragments of different SARS-CoV-2 proteins. T cell responses to these SARS-CoV-2 protein fragments were measured in a range of assays. T cell responses were most commonly seen against the spike, nucleocapsid, and matrix proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Antibody levels correlated well with CD4+ T cell responses but only weakly with CD8+ T cell responses. CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses did not correlate. Immune responses waned over time. This suggests that antibody levels measured within 3-4 months of infection can be used as a proxy for CD4+ but not CD8+ T cell responses against SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, nucleocapsid and matrix proteins are common targets for immune responses and could be included in second generation vaccines.

Development of a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein pseudovirus assay

Professor Alex McLellan
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago

We developed a genetic construct ('pseudovirus') to assist with testing sera from vaccinated individuals and from recovered COVID-19 patients. The project generated and tested a safe (non-replicating and non-virulent) model virus that will assist with our understanding of the interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with human cells. The construct will be used in the testing of human exposure to the virus, as well as in the discovery of novel anti-viral drugs

The impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on human neurons

Dr. Indranil Basak
Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago

The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on our lives. Millions of patients have died with various complications. Although lung infections primarily account for the most serious outcomes, a progressively increasing number of cases of COVID-19 involve neurological symptoms like loss of taste and smell, dizziness, unconsciousness, seizures, encephalitis, and stroke. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, can attack the brain, manifesting as brain dysfunction leading to aforementioned symptoms. Hence, our aim was to investigate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on neurons, the fundamental units of the brain, which are likely involved in the observed neurological complications. From our study, we found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects human neurons at a lower rate, but that low infection rate is enough to cause changes in protein expressions, which might lead to neurological symptoms.