Coronavirus Research Fundraising Campaign

We remain on the front line in the fight against the ongoing and long term effects of Covid-19. Your donation, whatever its size, will help.

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The coronavirus pandemic fundamentally changed the everyday life of every single person across the globe. As the virus spread, our community of friends and donors came together immediately to raise urgently needed funds to enable vital research into Covid-19. Thanks to your generous donations, our scientists and researchers were able to respond straight away to the significant challenges presented by the disease.

Two years on, coronavirus research remains critical. We are working hard to understand the immediate impact of the virus and its longer-term implications. Although society has started to recover and adapt, we can’t stand still. We must continue exploring and understanding the disease to ensure we are better equipped and more resilient to future pandemic threats.

You can support the Coronavirus Research Campaign by donating online. Your donation will support ongoing research - the results of which will have a long-lasting impact on the health and well-being of our communities. You can also extend your support by setting up a monthly, quarterly or annual Direct Debit online (ensuring you select "Coronavirus Campaign" from the drop-down menu).

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Your donations have enabled four vital research projects to proceed

Two new research projects which hope to unlock the secrets of Covid-19 have received funding, thanks to a significant donation from a private individual and ongoing fundraising by the University of Dundee.

Dr Amelia Shoemark, from the University's School of Medicine, was one of the successful recipients. Her project will focus on how Covid-19 can cause long-term damage to a person's airways that can expose the lungs to re-infection. She hopes her research will help identify who is at increased risk of airway damage and which treatments will reduce this risk.

Dr Alistair Geddes and Jaqueline Malcolm from the School of Geography and DJCAD were also successful. Together, they will lead a multidisciplinary project using health and socio-economic data to investigate how Covid-19 has affected health and inequalities in the Dundee area. 

In 2021, Professor James Chalmers and Dr Charis Marwick received funding to help them react quickly to emerging concepts in the early stages of Coronavirus research.

Professor James Chalmers received funding to advance his research towards developing a simple blood test that could identify patients at increased risk of death from Covid-19. His study found that the immune system responds differently to Covid-19 than other types of infection. He and his team also developed blood tests that could identify patients at higher risk of developing complications or who might respond to different kinds of treatment.

Dr Charis Marwick, an expert in infectious diseases at the University’s School of Medicine, was awarded funding to examine the disproportionate impact the virus had on care homes. She is now using newly available data showing Covid-19 infection rates in communities surrounding care homes to analyse the risk of an outbreak within the care home.

The Coronavirus Research Fundraising Campaign was established early in the pandemic to assist the scientific community with its research into the disease. The fund was set up to give researchers access to fast funding to be able to react quickly in a rapidly changing environment.

Our scientists and researchers are working hard to understand the immediate and long-term impact of Covid-19. Our work has been recognised as excellent and has attracted funding from the Chief Scientist’s Office, the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, amongst other key research funding institutes.

We greatly appreciate the help received from funders. Your donations allow our brightest minds to analyse the virus and its impact in greater detail, which will help ensure we never have to endure the painful separation from loved ones and sacrifice our day-to-day lives again.

We must continue their work if we are to understand the consequences of Covid-19 and prevent future viral pandemics. Your donation, whatever its size, will help vital research - the results of which will have a long-lasting impact on society.

Thank you

“We are delighted to be able to support the University of Dundee Coronavirus Research Fundraising Campaign. We strongly believe that research is the only way to protect people from Covid-19. The medical community has never faced a more urgent need for research than the unprecedented situation we face today.  We know that scientists here in Dundee have the skills and expertise to improve outcomes and deliver results for our local communities and we are privileged to be able to help progress this vital research further and faster.”

The Trustees, Northwood Charitable Trust, the associated charity of the Thomson family

Find out more about our coronavirus research below

school of life sciences building
View New Coronavirus Toolkit allows for ‘open access’ of antibodies and genetic tools to further global research into Covid-19 variants

Press release

New Coronavirus Toolkit allows for ‘open access’ of antibodies and genetic tools to further global research into Covid-19 variants

An international consortium, led by scientists in Scotland, have devised a Coronavirus Toolkit which gives researchers from across the world open access to a wide range of materials to further Covid-19 research.

Published on 25 February 2021