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.

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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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• Accelerating technology uptake during a pandemic: enabling and extending delivery of rehabilitation. August 2020

  COVID-19 significantly disrupted the delivery of healthcare, especially in areas that require physical interaction, such as disability and rehabilitation. Although existing technology could enable remote interventions, its widespread adoption is limited. In this Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Camila Shirota from the Griffith University Hopkins Centre, a Technology Assessment and Adoption Framework will be co-designed across multiple stakeholders, to accelerate and facilitate the uptake of remote technology in rehabilitation settings across Queensland.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Queensland
  Griffith University

  Contact details

  Doctor Camila Shirota
  Research Fellow
  c.shirota@griffith.edu.au
  +617 3735 4342

  Collaborations

  • Spinal Life Australia
  • Metro South Hospital and Health Service
  • Motor Accident Insurance Commission
  • Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Hub
  • Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service
  • The University of Queensland

• Advancing a clinical drug targeting the complement system to treat COVID-19. August 2020

  COVID-19 is an infectious and potentially lethal respiratory disease that has altered the way we all live. There is, therefore, an urgent need to identify effective drugs for this disease. This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. John Lee at UQ School of Biomedical Sciences entails validating and advancing a pre-existing clinical drug that targets our immune system, in the hope of finding an effective therapy for COVID-19 patients.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  School of Biomedical Sciences
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Doctor John Lee
  Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  j.lee9@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 336 52384

  Collaborations

  Alsonex Pty Ltd

• Application of separation technologies for rapid treatment of COVID-19 and related outbreaks. August 2020

  This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Craig Bell from UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology aims to produce a rapid, first-pass treatment for COVID-19 patients, and inoculation protection for front-line health workers. This project will evaluate application of separation membranes to create concentrated antibody-rich hyperimmune sera derived from blood of recovered COVID-19 patients. Without working vaccines, hyperimmune sera are the only viable rapid turnaround treatment for infectious diseases now and in the future.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Doctor Craig Bell
  UQ Amplify Researcher
  c.bell1@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 334 60322

  Collaborations

  Aegros

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)-supported real-time assessment of ventilation and blood-flow ratio in lungs. August 2020

  COVID-19 patients have a poor gas exchange in the lungs where the lungs may be easy to ventilate but do not match blood flow. This mismatch of ventilation and blood perfusion (V/Q ratio) affects the delivery of oxygen around the body and the excretion of carbon dioxide. If not treated optimally respiratory-failure may ensue - the main cause of COVID-19-related mortality. This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Aida Brankovic with UQ's School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering will develop a bedside AI-supported tool based on electromagnetic technology for real-time assessment of gas exchange. It will dynamically image lung fluid, the amount of blood and gas in the lungs. This will allow repeat bedside scanning that minimises toxic exposures and movement of critical and infectious patients for ventilation/perfusion lung scans.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Doctor Aida Brankovic
  Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  a.brankovic@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 336 52697

  Collaborations

  • Co-researcher: Professor Amin Abbosh
  • Collaborators:
  • EMvison Medical Devices
  • Princess Alexandra Hospital
  • Keysight Technology

• Drug discovery team use super-computer to screen compounds for treatment of COVID-19 April 2020

  The QUT Cancer and Ageing Research Program’s drug discovery team is using a super-computer to screen thousands of FDA-approved therapeutics and millions of drug-like compounds to see if any of them could be effective in treating COVID-19. In parallel, they have the capacity to physically screen 40,000 therapeutics in their TRI-based laboratory.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  Cancer and Ageing Research Program
  Queensland University of Technology

  Contact details

  Professor Derek Richard
  derek.richards@qut.edu.au
  +61 7 34437236

  Collaborations

  • Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation
  • Translational Research Institute
  • PA Research Foundation

• Global characterisation of COVID-19 June 2020

  Professor John Fraser is leading a global research study “COVID Critical - Global ICU Data Collection and Analysis to Better Understand and Treat Patients” involving more than 300 health centres across 49 countries. To date, there has been no real data on how best to care for COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, particularly the most vulnerable people. In this project, hospitals around the world will contribute critical care data about patients which will be analysed by Dr. Fraser’s research team at the St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital (part of Wesley Medical Research) to identify the treatments that work best for different patients in different scenarios.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Centre
  Wesley Medical Research

  Contact details

  Professor John Fraser
  Director of the Intensive Care Unit, St Andrews Memorial Hospital
  +61 7 3834 4225

  Collaborations

  • Co-researcher: Associate Professor Gianluigi Li Bassi
  • Partner: The Common Good
  • Pro-bono support: Amazon and IBM

• Impact and implications of COVID-19 on clinical supervision in hospital settings. August 2020

  This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Priya Martin at the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service's Cunningham Centre will investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical supervision practices of health professionals and students in regional and rural Queensland Health settings. Recommendations and strategies will be developed to negate the impact of this pandemic so that effective clinical supervision practices are maintained at the point of care.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  Cunningham Centre - Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service
  Queensland Health

  Contact details

  Doctor Priya Martin
  Adjunct Fellow - Rural Clinical School
  priya.martin@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 4037 4743

  Collaborations

  • Southern Queensland Rural Health
  • UQ Rural Clinical School
  • University of South Australia

• MitoKhondrion: Decreasing COVID-19 mortality by increasing the functioning of our cell’s powerhouses. August 2020

  Protecting our most vulnerable from COVID-19 death is a prime medical priority. Kidney disease, often diabetes-caused, can contribute significantly to health complications in COVID-19 patients. Indeed 20-40% of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units suffer kidney failure. This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Mitchell Sullivan with Mater Research aims to significantly improve COVID-19 survival rates by protecting kidneys using a novel approach with potentially broad application to coronavirus diseases.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  Mater Research
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Doctor Mitchell Sullivan
  Mater Research Career Track Fellow
  mitchell.sullivan@mater.uq.edu.au

  Collaborations

  Mater Misericordiae Ltd

• Optimising telehealth to future-proof the delivery of autism related services. August 2020

  This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by A/Professor David Trembath from the Griffith University Hopkins Centre will support Queensland’s lead service provider for individuals with autism and their families as it responds to COVID-19 disruption and builds resilience through the transition to telehealth delivery. The work will identify and extend the most effective models to keep individuals and families supported, minimise staff impacts, and improve access to services for regional and remote Queenslanders.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  The Hopkins Centre, Menzies Health Institute Queensland
  Griffith University

  Contact details

  A/Prof David Trembath
  Deputy Research Director
  d.trembath@griffith.edu.au
  +617 5678 0103

  Collaborations

  Autism Queensland

• Placebo-controlled randomized Clinical Trial of Perispinal Etanercept (Enbrel) in Australian patients affected by stroke July 2020

  There is a 37% increase of the incidence of stroke in those infected by COVID-19. The underlying pathology of COVID-19 is systemic inflammation and is closely related to post-stroke pathology. Etanercept (Enbrel) has been used for many years to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. A recent trial led by Associate Professoressor Stephen Ralph from GU's Menzies Health Institute Queensland showed a significant decrease in post-stroke pain levels and reduced muscle spasticity experienced by people affected by stroke. Subject to funding and approvals this treatment will be trialled in Australian COVID-19 patients affected by stroke.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  https://science.des.qld.gov.au/research/capability-directory/?id=Menzies-Health-Institute-Queensland

  • Griffith University
  • University of Southern Queensland

  Contact details

  Associate Professor Stephen Ralph
  Co-investigator
  s.ralph@griffith.edu.au
  +61 7 5552 8583

  Collaborations

  • Associate Professoressor Coralie Graham (University of Southern Queensland)
  • Professor Odette Best (University of Southern Queensland)

• Preventing the respiratory failure causing COVID-19 mortality, potent new drugs targeting hyperinflammation. August 2020

  This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Lisa Philp from QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation will develop highly potent novel drugs to prevent and cure acute respiratory distress syndrome, the rapid-onset life-threatening respiratory failure that is killing patients with COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. These drugs will save lives by targeting adipokine receptors responsible for the extreme overreaction of the body’s immune system and hyperactive inflammatory response that underpin rapid patient decline from respiratory failure.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation
  Queensland University of Technology

  Contact details

  Doctor Lisa Philp
  Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  lisa.philp@qut.edu.au
  +61 7 3443 7283

  Collaborations

  • Allysta Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
  • Arrevus, Inc.
  • Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital
  • Princess Alexandra Hospital ICU
  • Translational Research Institute

• Protecting frontline workers from COVID-19 June 2020

  Professor Bala Venkatesh, Director of the Intensive Care Unit at the Wesley Hospital is leading the “Protecting frontline workers from COVID-19” research project. The project, due for completion in July 2020, sets out to determine whether the safe, low-cost, orally available agent – hydroxychloroquine – will prevent COVID-19 infection in healthcare workers. HCQ has shown promising efficacy in preventing COVID-19 in previous research – but needs to be tested in a large multi-site clinical trial. Every day, front-line healthcare workers come face-to-face with COVID-19; putting their lives at risk in order to save others. In the 2003 SARS pandemic, healthcare workers accounted for 21% of global cases. This trial does not use hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19, it is only being tested with healthy healthcare workers for preventative or prophylactic use.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Centre
  Wesley Medical Research

  Contact details

  Professor Bala Venkatesh
  Director of the Intensive Care Unit at The Wesley Hospital
  balasubramanian.venkatesh@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 3721 1500

  Collaborations

  Partners: The George Institute for Global Health

• Reducing COPD Emergency Department presentations through the implementation of a Nurse Case Management Role. July 2020

  With COVID-19 cases presenting to our Emergency Departments (ED), it is important that we understand how to effectively manage the impact of COVID-19 on COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patients. Based upon the findings of pre-COVID-19 research by USQ's Associate Professoressor Clint Moloney into the value of Nurse Case Managers in improving outcomes for both COPD patients and EDs, a pilot research project is planned for the Gold Coast University Hospital (GCUH). A Nurse Case Manager, proposed to be based in the GCUH ED, would facilitate avoidable ED and hospital admission for patients with COPD and establish a sub-group of patients affected by COVID-19. This will form part of a larger research initiative focused on the economic and relative patient outcomes stemming from the introduction of a Nurse Case Manager role.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  School of Nursing and Midwifery
  University of Southern Queensland

  Contact details

  Associate Professor Clint Moloney
  Clint.Moloney@usq.edu.au
  +61 7 4631 2931

  Collaborations

  • Professor Jeff Gow
  • Hancy Issac
  • Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine Gerben Keijzers - GCUH
  • Dr. Ya-Ling (Rebecca) Huang (Nurse Researcher GCUH)
  • Dr. Bajee Krishna Sriram, Staff Specialist, Department of Respiratory Medicine GCUH

• Researchers develop low-cost ventilator to help countries still fighting COVID-19 using a system to automate the ambu bag June 2020

  A team led by Professor Yongsheng Gao at GU have created the Ventil-8, a device that turns ambu bags, the self-inflating hand pump bag used in resuscitation into automated ventilators. “This replacement ventilator needed to be low-cost and built quickly and relatively easily anywhere in the world. A key design requirement was that all its components have to be available locally and accessible within one day, and in sufficient quantities to create thousands.” Professor Gao said. The team settled on a prototype driven by an easily available car windscreen wiper motor that cost just AUS $600. “The makeshift ventilator meets the doctors’ needs, with adjustable volume and speed or breaths per minute and three different Inspiratory/Expiratory (I/E) ratios”, said Dr. Mousa Hadipour, a research fellow at GU's Institute for Integrated and Intelligent Systems.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  Institute for Integrated and Intelligent Systems
  Griffith University

  Contact details

  Professor Yongsheng Gao
  Director
  yongsheng.gao@griffith.edu.au
  +61 7 3735 3652

• Six COVID-19 drug leads identified April 2020

  A team of international researchers, including some from UQ, has tested over 10,000 approved drugs, drug candidates in clinical trials and other compounds as potential leads for fighting COVID-19. The research involved a program of high-throughput drug screening, both in laboratories and using computer software to predict how different drugs bind to the virus. The main COVID-19 virus enzyme called main protease or Mpro, was targeted as it plays a pivotal role in viral replication and transcription – but as humans don’t carry this enzyme, drugs that target Mpro are likely to have low toxicity for people. Researchers identified six drugs that appear to effectively inhibit the enzyme, with one drug of particular interest. The results of the study have been published in Nature for researchers across the world.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences
  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Professor Luke Guddat
  luke.guddat@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 336 53549

  Collaborations

  • Project Leaders: ShanghaiTech University
  • Funders:
  • National Key R&D Programmes of China
  • Project of International Cooperation and Exchanges - National Natural Science Foundation of China
  • Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality
  • Department of Science and Technology of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

• Stopping COVID-19 by targeting the viral replication. August 2020

  This Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellowship project led by Dr. Mark Adams at QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation seeks to determine the effectiveness of a novel anti-SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 causing virus) candidate named DLSK02. DLSK02 is a first-in-class inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 replication complex. If the drug works, it will effectively stop the ability of the virus to replicate and survive.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation
  Queensland University of Technology

  Contact details

  Doctor Mark Adams
  Strategic Research Fellow
  mn.adams@qut.edu.au
  +61 7 3443 7324

  Collaborations

  CARP Pharmaceuticals

• Telehealth and coronavirus: Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) activity in Australia May 2020

  In March 2020, additional telehealth item numbers were added to the Australian Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) to encourage physical distancing, for those accessing medical, nursing and allied health services during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. UQ's Centre for Online Health (COH) has analysed the MBS service data and summarised telehealth uptake throughout Australia. This information will be updated on a monthly basis.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  The University of Queensland

  Contact details

  Doctor Centaine Snoswell
  Research Fellow Health Economics
  c.snoswell@uq.edu.au
  +61 7 3176 5314

  Collaborations

  • Co-researchers:
  • Monica Taylor
  • Georgina Hobson
  • A/Professor Liam Caffery
  • Dr. Emma Thomas
  • Dr. Helen Haydon
  • Professor Anthony Smith
  • Collaborator: NHMRC Partnership Centre for Health System Sustainability

• The Long-term Impact of COVID-19 on survivors June 2020

  Evidence from the 2003 SARS outbreak indicates that COVID-19 could substantially affect the quality of life in survivors. This two-year study, led by Associate Professoressor Gianluigi Li Bassi, ICU Specialist, St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital (part of Wesley Medical Research), will investigate the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the millions of people infected with the virus around the world, to understand their future medical care. The work by A/Professor Gianluigi Li Bassi aims to understand the impact of COVID-19 on health outcomes such as renal, pulmonary, liver and neurological dysfunction and general health-related quality of life.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  COVID-19 Rapid Response Research Centre
  Wesley Medical Research

  Contact details

  Associate Professor Gianluigi Li Bassi
  ICU Specialist, St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital

  Collaborations

  Co-researcher: Professor John Fraser, Director ICU, St Andrews War Memorial Hospital

• Use of convalescent plasma in clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 June 2020

  Australian research into the use of convalescent plasma in clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 should be supported according to a leading immunologist from Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics. Professor Michael Good AO, a member of the National COVID-19 Health and Research Advisory Committee and chair of the working group on convalescent plasma therapy, said the working group’s conclusions included the active support of research into trials of convalescent plasma for treatment and prophylaxis. “Convalescent plasma therapy involves the transfusion of blood plasma collected from patients recovered from COVID-19. As they will have produced antibodies against the disease, the aim is to provide passive immunity in infected patients, as opposed to active immunity in patients that would be induced by a vaccine.” said Professor Good. Convalescent plasma is not a new therapy and has been used and trialled in influenza, SARS-CoV-1 and Ebola infection, as well as in many established diseases such as diphtheria and tetanus.

  #Treatment

  Centre

  Institute for Glycomics
  Griffith University

  Contact details

  Professor Michael Good
  Principal Research Leader
  michael.good@griffith.edu.au
  +61 7 5552 9435