Covid-19-efforts in the region – June update

As of today June 22, over 468 000 deaths are caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus globally, more than 5000 of them in Sweden. Advances in research into the coronavirus are largely driven by research data being rapidly shared around the world. A few examples from the region are listed here.

Academic research and collaborations on Covid-19 and the new corona virus:

Karolinska Institutet Covid-19 Resource Hub >>

KTH research and initiatives on the novel corona virus and Covid-19 >>

SciLifeLab efforts related to the Covid-19 pandemic and SciLifeLab Covid-19 action plan >>

Stockholm University news related to the corona virus >>

• On June 3, the Swedish national data portal for research on Covid-19, coordinated by SciLifeLab and the Swedish Research Council was launched. The aim is to facilitate for researchers to find and share research data. 

• The EU Commission is making research data and metadata from research into Covid-19 accessible on a joint open data platform within the framework for the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). The initiative is a collaboration between the EU Commission and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), where Sweden is a member. European Covid-19 Data Portal >>

Vinnova supports KTH's antibody test kit against Covid-19A project led by KTH has received 2 million in funding from Vinnova. The plan is to enable mass testing of antibodies to covid-19 using a home sampling kit. The technology is developed by Scilifelab developed and the company Capitainer has developed the test kit which is based on test subjects taking samples at home and then posting the sample for laboratory analysis. The project is done in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet, Previs and three smaller companies.Read more >>

Support for Covid-19 research in UppsalaThe Einhorn Family Foundation and the Foundation for International Oncological Cooperation donates nearly 600 000 SEK to support Covid-19 research at Uppsala University and SciLifeLab. Some people develop severe immunological reactions when infected by the coronavirus, while others hardly display any symptoms at all. To help find out why that is, the Einhorn Foundation has donated 500 000 SEK to a project led by Björn Olsen, at Uppsala University. Another 100 000 SEK was donated to SciLifeLab in Uppsala, by the foundation ”Stiftelsen för Internationellt Onkologiskt Samarbete” to explore the impact of Covid-19 on cancer treatment patients.Read more >>

Corona vaccine administration through the noseA research team from Chalmers, the University of Gothenburg and AstraZeneca try to develop a vaccine against Covid-19 that can be given as a nasal spray.Read more >>

Cytiva employees tested for Covid-19 infectionIn collaboration with researchers at SciLifeLab, Karolinska Institutet and KTH, employees at Cytiva are tested for Covid-19 infection. The collaboration is a pilot to test the assay method developed by the researchers, but also provides a complementary picture of ongoing spread of Covid-19 and the prevalence of antibody responses that show previous infection. Cytiva contributes in the project with knowledge and resources for the development of logistics and sample handling.Read more >>

Blood Plasma Study at Karolinska InstitutetPreliminary results from a study at Karolinska Institutet to give blood plasma from people who have recovered after Covid-19 to coronary patients show promising results and the study is now moving on.Read more >>