World-leading research into long-Covid by Murdoch University’s Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC) couldn’t have been possible without support from Spinnaker Health Research Foundation, the laboratory’s director has said.
In the early stages of the Covid-19 outbreak, Professor Jeremy Nicholson made the decision to pivot the lab’s focus to understanding the disease’s long-term impact on the body.
But a seminal donation from Spinnaker, made possible through the backing of donors, meant ANPC was able to lay the foundation for this revolutionary research to take off.
Prof Nicholson said that foresight will be felt across health research for years to come.
“Not only has this ticked a lot of Covid-19 and long-Covid boxes, but it also has impacts that are relevant to a huge number of chronic diseases including chronic fatigue syndrome, neurological diseases, dementia and cardiovascular disease,” he said.
“We have learnt a whole series of new things about really important diseases by studying Covid and long-Covid.
“I think in terms of the boost of the program at the very beginning of our lab, Spinnaker’s support was critically important. It might be the most important funding that we ever got and will ever get.”
ANPC has been a leader in long-Covid research, with the team of world-class scientists publishing more than 30 scientific papers and generating more than $15 million in additional Government funding in the past four years.
That output is showing no signs of slowing down, with the lab’s discoveries spilling over to other health issues like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dementia.
The team has made a host of major breakthroughs, highlighted by the recent discovery of a hidden part of the immune system that creates anti-viral agents.
Uncovered while testing urine samples of Covid-positive patients, nine of the 10 compounds were new to human biology knowledge.
This rare discovery could have significant impact in future early detection of infection, as the compounds discovered are only produced while the virus is active.
Other major advancements have included the development of a rapid diagnostic tool that can predict the effects of long-Covid and a set of biomarkers for increased risk of cardiovascular disease in Covid-positive patients, among a suite of other accomplishments.
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