Queensland COVID-19 research

This page of Queensland’s research related to the COVID-19 pandemic is compiled from information provided by Queensland universities and research institutes.

1. SearchSearch by title, organisation, research details
2. Parent organisation (any) Australian Centre For Health Services Innovation (AusHSI) CQUniversity Griffith University James Cook University Mater Research Queensland Health Queensland University of Technology The University of Queensland University of Southern Queensland University of Sunshine Coast University of the Sunshine Coast Wesley Medical Research
3. Sector or topic (any) Advance Manufacturing Bioeconomy Business and economics Clinical Trials Data Science Diagnostics Emergency management Epidemiology Hazard management Infection management Mental health and wellbeing Modelling Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) Social sciences Treatment Urban design and town planning Vaccine Zoonotics
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• A scalable virus trap for the COVID-19 virus - fast COVID-19 Testing May 2020

  In an extension of research to produce a quick and inexpensive test for Dengue Fever, researchers at UQ's AIBN and the CSIRO have developed a prototype for a rapid test for COVID-19 that could deliver results in 5-15 minutes and potentially identify COVID-19 ‘silent spreaders’ within the community. It uses a simple colour change from clear to blue liquid to indicate a positive test. The test’s simplicity and suitability for mass manufacture within Australia could make it suitable for a major step-change in mass population screening. The project has progressed to the prototype testing of a lateral flow device similar to low cost red/green light pregnancy testing kits. Using a nasal or throat swab, the device uses the reaction of proteins on nano-sized particles of a yeast to provide a cheap and very quick test result. The project is now funded by under the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative of the USA National Institutes of Health (NIH) to accelerate the project for large-scale manufacture of the device.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Professor Matt Trau
  Senior Group Leader - Trau Group
  m.trau@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 334 64173

  Collaborations

  • Co-rearcher: Professor Stephen Rose (CSIRO)
  • Co-funder: USA National Institutes of Health

• Chimeric insect-specific viruses for laboratory and point-of-care diagnosis of emergent viral disease. August 2020

  Effective outbreak response is reliant on the rapid production of scaleable, inexpensive and accurate diagnostic assays. This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Jody Hobson-Peters from the UQ School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences will expand on an innovative program to use insect-specific viruses to produce authentic, recombinant antigens for emergent viruses, including COVID-19. These antigens will be applied to high-throughput laboratory assays and rapid hand-held diagnostics, enabling vigilant testing for viral disease in Queensland communities.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Doctor Jody Hobson-Peters
  Research Fellow
  j.peters2@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 336 54648

  Collaborations

  • Queensland Health
  • BioCifer
  • Australian Red Cross Lifeblood
  • Agua Foundation

• CoViBac: Host response and secondary pneumonia in COVID-19. August 2020

  Secondary infections and immune dysregulation represent life threatening yet poorly understood COVID-19 complications. This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship joint project by the GeneCology Research Centre and Sunshine Coast Health Institute, led by Dr. Olusola Olagoke, will use cutting-edge next-generation sequencing technology alongside rapid diagnostics to better understand both the co-pathogens (bacteria, fungi, and viruses) and the aberrant immune responses driving COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Findings will assist Queensland healthcare facilities to better diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent critically ill COVID-19 cases.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  GeneCology Research Centre and Sunshine Coast Health Institute
  University of the Sunshine Coast

  Contact details

  Doctor Olusola Olagoke
  Vaccine Research Fellow

  Collaborations

  Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service

• Deployable capability in extracting DNA from saliva & nasal swabs. April 2020

  Building on more than ten years’ experience as a paleogeneticist, researching the population genetics with specific expertise in ancient DNA retrieval and analysis, Dr. Sally Wasef at GU is using ancient DNA (aDNA) to help Indigenous communities identify and repatriate the remains of their ancient people. Dr. Wasef has deployable capability in extracting DNA from saliva & nasal swabs.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  Environmental Futures Research Institute
  Griffith University

  Contact details

  Doctor Sally Wasif
  Lecturer
  s.wasef@griffith.edu.au
  +61 7 3735 4728

• Deployable capability to sequence extracted COVID-19 samples May 2020

  The DNA Sequencing Facility has deployable capability to sequence extracted COVID-19 samples. Steve Bentley's team at the DNA Sequencing Facility at Griffith University provide independent, high quality and competitively priced DNA Sequencing and Fragment Analysis services. Steve's genetic research is focused on identifying known and novel genetic causes for familial Parkinsonism in Queensland.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  DNA Sequencing Facility
  Griffith University

  Contact details

  Steve Bentley
  Operator
  s.bentley@griffith.edu.au
  +61 7 3735 6541

• Development and validation of a Raman spectroscopy assay for COVID-19 antigen detection in mucus. August 2020

  The COVID-19 pandemic has crippled economies, forced lockdowns and infected millions and killed thousands globally. In collaboration with a number of partner organisations this Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by QUT's Dr. Kristyan Guppy-Coles will develop and validate a rapid, highly-accurate, inexpensive method for detecting COVID-19 in body fluid via novel surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  Science and Engineering Faculty
  Queensland University of Technology

  Contact details

  Doctor Kristyan Guppy-Coles

  Collaborations

  • Metrohm
  • Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology
  • FLEW Solutions

• Point-of-care diagnostic device incorporating microfluidic technology and electrochemical biosensing platform for COVID-19 detection. August 2020

  This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Yusuf Kaneti will develop a novel portable point-of-care diagnostic device for the rapid and sensitive detection of COVID-19 in non-clinical settings. This diagnostic device will incorporate microfluidic technology and a portable electrochemical biosensor to provide all-in-one function for isolation, purification, and detection of coronavirus RNA. The device will have the potential to accelerate COVID-19 testing in Queensland's regional areas.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Doctor Yusuf Kaneti

  Collaborations

  AI Fluidics Pty Ltd

• Queensland Family Cohort Study investigates impacts of COVID-19 on Queensland babies June 2020

  A Queensland-first trial that will assess the impacts of COVID-19 on expectant parents and their unborn babies is being carried out at Mater Mothers’ Hospitals. Augmenting the current Queensland Family Cohort Study, the Mater Research research team are recruiting 300 families who have endured the stress brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, while being pregnant. Mater Research Professor Vicki Clifton said it was important to capture data from both expectant mothers and fathers during this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic to see what the impacts of the crisis were on families, the pregnancy and their babies as they developed. “We know from previous research undertaken on the impacts of the 2011 Queensland floods that you don’t need to be directly affected by a crisis to have increased stress hormones in your system and we know that this affects the placenta and there is a change in the developmental profiles of the baby.”

  “It’s important that while we have, and continue to experience a pandemic, that we are evaluating the impacts on these families and also how this will influence their babies’ development up until they are school age,” Professor Clifton said. The Queensland Family Cohort Study pilot began in 2018 with the aim to address disease at its core and determine how a baby’s health and exposure in early life influences the onset of disease in the future.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  Mater Research

  Contact details

  Professor Vicki Clifton
  Senior Research Fellow
  vicki.clifton@mater.uq.edu.au
  0422 939 723

  Collaborations

  • University of Queensland
  • Queensland University of Technology
  • Griffith University

• Understanding immune dysregulation and secondary bacterial/fungal pneumonia in COVID-19 patients (the CoViBac study) June 2020

  Associate Professoressor Erin Price and her colleagues at the Pathogen-Omics lab at the Sunshine Coast Health Institute, USC are using metagenomics and metatranscriptomics (gene expression of microbes in natural environments) to characterise the airway microbiome of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with a view to improving the diagnosis and treatment of infections that drive disease. This work now includes performing dual RNA-seq to better understand the aberrant host immune responses and causes of secondary bacterial/fungal pneumonia in COVID-19 patients (the CoViBac study) in collaboration with clinical partners at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  Pathogen-Omics lab - Sunshine Coast Health Institute
  University of Sunshine Coast

  Contact details

  Associate Professor Erin Price
  Co-lead of the Pathogen-Omics lab team
  eprice@usc.edu.au
  +61 7 5456 5568

  Collaborations

  • Co-researchers:
  • Dr. Derek Sarovich
  • Dr. Olusola (Shola) Olagoke
  • Dr. Tim Baird - Clinical lead - Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service
  • Sunshine Coast University Hospital

• Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on patients with reduced heart function June 2020

  Patients with reduced heart function may be particularly at risk as data indicates that severe COVID-19 infections can cause heart muscle damage and heart failure. Research led by Dr. Rivers, a Cardiologist at St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital (part of Wesley Medical Research), aims to find out why COVID-19 is of particular risk to people with heart issues. The project involves 100 patients with reduced heart function who are diagnosed with COVID-19. Using smartphone technology to avoid the need to attend healthcare facilities, the impact of COVID-19 infection on measured heart function and symptoms of heart failure will be monitored over a period of 6 months.

  #Diagnostics

  Centre

  COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Centre
  Wesley Medical Research

  Contact details

  Doctor John Rivers
  Cardiologist at St Andrew’s Memorial Hospital
  +61 7 3016 1111