Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children in London is using its expertise and latest technologies to better understand and mitigate the risk of COVID-19, thereby informing decision makers around infection control in hospitals to help prevent further spread of the virus.

The recently-opened Centre, which brings together hundreds of clinicians and researchers under one roof, is playing an important role in the testing of Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) staff and patients for COVID-19 in London to help gain a picture of how the virus is spreading. The data will help to inform public health planning both locally and nationally.

The team, led by Professor Judith Breuer from UCL, will be contributing a large number of patient samples from London which, as the epicentre for the current UK COVID-19 epidemic is critical to understanding spread to other parts of the country. At the same time, COVID-19 patient samples will be used to identify whether and where hospital transmission of COVID-19 between staff and patients is occurring. This will inform decision making around infection control in hospitals to help prevent further spread of the virus.

In addition, the data from this trial will help to decide how hospital infections are monitored in the future. Finally, the teams are sequencing COVID-19 from very sick children treated with new drugs to monitor how resistant the virus is to these drugs. These projects highlight the bench to bedside approach to research which the Zayed Centre for Research is known for, with clinicians and researchers working side by side to find out more about the virus.

Professor David Goldblatt, Director of Clinical Research and Innovation for Great Ormond Street Hospital and Deputy Director of the UCL Institute of Child Health said: "Now more than ever, the importance and need for research is clear. We are incredibly fortunate to have the Zayed Centre for Research and its state-of-the-art facilities to assist us in our task to better understand COVID-19 and how it might be controlled. The research we are carrying out, alongside research projects across the world is vital in helping us find ways to manage this virus."

Dr. Maha Barakat, Senior Advisor to the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, said: "We are indebted to the world-class scientists and doctors at the Zayed Centre for their commitment to ensuring the welfare of its young patients, and contributing its research capability to better understand a virus that has impacted our global community."

The Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children, which opened in July 2019, was made possible thanks to a transformative ₤60 million gift in 2014 from H.H. Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation (FDF). The Centre is a partnership between Great Ormond Street Hospital, University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

The state-of-the-art facilities will enable hundreds of researchers and clinicians to work side by side, so that patients will benefit from the latest developments in the laboratory, accelerating the progress of new diagnoses, treatments and cures for rare and complex diseases. The results could help change the lives of children both nationally and globally.

WAM