Long Covid research team wins global award

Research by a team of academics into the effects of long Covid has been described as a ‘model for the future of health research’, after securing a global award.  

Led by Professor Mark Faghy, the University of Derby team was one of three overall winners in the 2024 Nature Inclusive Health Research Awards for its project, ‘Profiling the Determinants of Long Covid.’ 

The research aims to increase the causes and contributing factors of long Covid by bringing clinical insight together with the lived experience of patients.  

The team was praised for ‘demonstrating powerfully how patient-led research delivers greater impact’ by judges at the awards ceremony, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa.  

Nine initiatives were shortlisted for the awards with three chosen to receive €20,000 Euros each towards further research.   

Mark Faghy, Professor of Clinical Science at the University of Derby, said:

“I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of our Long Covid research group and would like to thank the University for its support. 

“The team has worked so diligently on this project over the last four-and-a-half years and although we are proud that our hard work has been recognised, we know that long Covid continues to impact the lives of so many people around the world.” 

It is estimated around 2.2m people in the UK and more than 165m globally live with long Covid and almost a quarter of sufferers have had their symptoms for more than two years. 

The research being conducted by academics at Derby aims to ask and answer the questions that matter to those who continue to be impacted by long Covid, to enable a richer understanding of the condition.  

Commenting on the University of Derby’s work, Helen Jenson, Head of Grants and Awards at Nature, said:

“The most notable quality of this study is that it delivers two equally important things; the results are going to give us our first genuine quantifiable insight into who is particularly susceptible to long Covid and potentially, why but perhaps, more importantly, it is a model for the future of health research and the way in which it should be done. 

“It demonstrates powerfully how patient-led research delivers greater impact and greater benefit. Every public funding body should be paying attention to the effectiveness of this approach. 

“Professor Faghy, his team at Derby, their patient collaborators, and their research partners around the world are to be admired and congratulated for establishing the standard that other UK research institutions must strive to emulate, and that funding bodies and regulators should be expecting from them if they want to be certain that their money is delivering the maximum public and patient benefit.” 

This year, the team at the University of Derby started a new trial to test whether an anti-viral medication commonly used to treat people with acute Covid-19 could be effective in treating symptoms of long Covid.   

The trials, which are a first in the UK and funded by Gilead Sciences Inc, will allow the team to assess whether antiviral medicines have the potential to be an effective treatment option for patients once diagnosed with long Covid.  

Find out more about the University’s research on long Covid.