Combating COVID-19: The latest update from the SciLifeLab-KAW research program

In March 2020, SciLifeLab launched a national call for researchers nationwide, to create a comprehensive program to combat the coronavirus pandemic, with applicants ranging from several Swedish universities, hospitals, and other organizations both in Sweden and abroad. The SciLifeLab management group and experts in the field reviewed all proposals and approved 67 for funding.

Besides scientific impact, the evaluation criteria considered were relevance and impact on tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities created by the SciLifeLab community, possibility to form synergies and collaborations, commitment to open data sharing and real-time updates of progress.

The projects were funded 50 MSEK from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and SciLifeLab will now receive another 50 MSEK during 2021 and 2022 for COVID-19-related projects. The SciLifeLab board also allocated 12 MSEK for the coordination of the program, connecting it with the SciLifeLab infrastructure, to further strengthen the effects of the initiative.

Just six months after launch, the fast action and concerted efforts of the Swedish research community have generated a number of important key findings, promoted by a collaborative, open science and data sharing strategy.

Now, the time has come to share those findings through a webinar, dedicated to highlight the exciting research taking place at SciLifeLab. The webinar will also highlight different synergy effects and the team science behind the results.

Several external speakers will also participate during the webinar. Among them, Åsa Kristoferson Hedlund, Chairman of the Swedish Covid organisation, with her talk “The invisible patients: a broader approach to COVID-19 is needed in data collection and research” and Staffan Normark, Chairman of The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ COVID-19 expert group, with “Concluding remarks”.

Read more and register