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26 March 2020

Boosting the search for coronavirus treatments

King's scientists are coming together in the search for novel COVID-19 treatments.

Coronavirus

Like many other academics and researchers, Georgina Ellison-Hughes, Professor of Regenerative Muscle Physiology, has found herself unable to come into work in her lab and is instead in lockdown at home. Having started work with colleagues in China to test the impact of stem cells in patients with COVID-19, she was keen to continue the fight against the virus from home.

I felt really worthless just stuck at home, so I thought I’d start a taskforce of researchers to search for treatments.

Georgina Ellison-Hughes, Professor of Regenerative Muscle Physiology from the School of Basic & Medical Biosciences

The team of researchers will search on pre-print servers (MedRxiv, BioRxiv, ChemRxiv) and journals to look for research articles that have already been deposited on COVID-19. They will read the articles, interpret the findings and identify any drug targets, and re-purposed drugs, as well as other therapies that may have had an impact.

This is our domain, research and reading the literature is what we do… now we need to act fast and do something on a very important timescale. We are scientists, we have the skill set and understanding to do this.

Georgina Ellison-Hughes, Professor of Regenerative Muscle Physiology, School of Basic & Medical Biosciences

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Georgina Ellison-Hughes

Professor of Regenerative Muscle Physiology