COVID-19 GenOMICC Study

The GenOMICC (Genetics of Susceptibility and Mortality in Critical Care) study seeks to identify the specific genes that cause some people to be susceptible to specific infections and consequences of severe injury.

When a patient is already sick, different genetic factors determine how likely they are to survive, and our genes are what determine how susceptible we are to life-threatening infection.

Susceptibility to COVID-19 is almost certainly, in part, genetic. By identifying these genes, we should be able to determine the best use of existing treatments, and design new treatments to help people survive critical illness. This will be achieved by comparing DNA and cells from carefully selected patients with samples from healthy people.

GenOMICC was designed for this crisis. Since 2016, the open, global GenOMICC collaboration has been recruiting patients with emerging infections, including COVID-19. All patients with confirmed COVID-19 in critical care are eligible for this study.

GenOMICC is prioritised as an NIHR Urgent Public Health Study in the UK.