COVID-19: Understanding the Research Behind the Pandemic

Explore the critical role of research in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic took the world by surprise, causing a global health crisis. Reducing the spread of the disease and treating patients relied on how rapidly we could harness our research capabilities. This has led to developments that will change how we conduct future research.

On this course, you will understand the challenges that COVID-19 poses to health research communities and find out how scientists in the UK conduct innovative research that meets ethical, legal and safety requirements.

Understand the research process of developing new drugs and vaccines

You will look at the steps of the clinical research cycle to understand how vaccine development was sped up. You will also discover the spectrum of COVID-19 research taking place including the development of new life-saving treatments.

Learn about the importance of the public in delivering innovative research.

You will find out how ethical considerations and the safety of participants are central to research. In stimulating case studies, research participants discuss their experiences before, during, and after COVID-19 clinical trials.

This course will help you understand how crucial your participation in research is for the future of healthcare and the development of life-saving treatments and vaccines.

Discover the next challenges for researchers.

You will explore how our response to COVID-19 may affect the future of research, and find out the next big questions for researchers, such as understanding Long COVID and the development of future vaccines.

Our Lead Educator and Mentors will be on hand from October 4 to 29 to support discussions and to answer your questions. If you join the course after October 29, moderators will still be checking the comments regularly to respond to your queries.

This course is for everyone interested in finding out about the research on COVID-19. This course is also useful for people that work in healthcare to help answer the questions members of the public may ask about COVID-19 research.