Global Characterisation of 2019 Novel Coronavirus [COVID Critical]

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Project Overview

Dr John Fraser, Director of the Intensive Care Unit at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital is leading a global research study called COVID Critical, which involves more than 300 centres across 49 countries.

To date, there has been little reliable information on how best to care for COVID-19 patients in intensive care units; particularly the most vulnerable people.

In this project, medical experts from across the globe are sharing critical insights, experience and expertise about how COVID-19 patients are being treated in their hospitals.

As the global lead, Dr Fraser’s research team will analyse this information in real-time here in Brisbane to understand which of the treatments work best in different patients and in different scenarios across the world.

This is a local, national and international collaboration and pro-bono support is provided by Amazon and IBM to help capture and communicate this information.

Patients Required

Estimated completion

Dec 2021

Number of Health Centres

307 Health Centres

Number of Countries

49 Countries

Project Aim

This project aims to provide those working in Intensive Care Units with desperately needed scientific evidence to inform decisions on patient care in local intensive care units – including:

how and when ventilators should be used to minimise demand on this scarce resource
which drugs are showing promising results in treating COVID-19
what techniques can be used to better treat patients
what new ideas does the global medical community have to treat critically-ill patients and how can these ideas be tested quickly

Project Impact

This knowledge will directly impact on the lives of our patients here, today. Real data will be collected in real-time to inform the treatment of patients now.