Guidance

National Core Studies programme

Details about the COVID-19 National Core Studies (NCS) programme.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts and key UK funders of research and development identified a number of areas where the UK needed to increase its research scale or infrastructure to respond to key near-term strategic, policy and operational questions regarding COVID-19. As a result, the National Core Studies (NCS) programme was established in 2020 to ensure critical questions can be answered quickly, and to the best of our capability.

See the letter from Sir Patrick Vallance to National Senior Clinical Leads initiating the National Core Studies.

Aim

As our knowledge of COVID-19 is continuously evolving, the aim of the NCS is not to address the entire scope of UK-based COVID-19 research but to focus on the most critical questions for policy making. Therefore, connections with other research programmes funded by science research funding bodies including (but not limited to) UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and Wellcome are highly valuable.

Studies

6 National Core Studies were set up and are managed by 8 leads.

Epidemiology and Surveillance

Collecting and analysing data to understand how COVID-19 affects the UK, including the prevalence of COVID-19 in the general population and how it changes over time, and the economic and societal impacts of COVID-19.

Led by Professor Sir Ian Diamond, UK National Statistician, Office for National Statistics.

Transmission and Environment

Understanding transmission of COVID-19 in the workplace, on transport and in public places.

Led by Professor Andrew Curran, Chief Scientific Adviser, Health and Safety Executive.

Find out more about the Transmission and Environment study.

Clinical Trials Infrastructure

Accelerating large-scale COVID-19 trials for drugs and vaccines.

Led by Professor Patrick Chinnery, Clinical Director, Medical Research Council, and Dr. Divya Chadha Manek, Head of Business Development, Vaccines Taskforce.

Immunity

Understanding immunity against COVID-19 by predicting individual risk, working to protect against infection, preventing reinfection, and preparing for future pandemic challenges.

Led by Professor Paul Moss, Professor of Haematology, University of Birmingham.

Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing

Understanding the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on mental, physical, and economic health.

Led by Professor Nishi Chaturvedi, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, University College London, and Professor Jonathan Sterne, Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, Bristol Medical School.

Find out more about the Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing study.

Data and Connectivity

Making UK-wide health and administrative data available and accessible to all.

Led by Professor Andrew Morris, Director, Health Data Research UK.

Find out more about the Data and Connectivity study.

Data-sharing principles

The NCS bring together core assets of the UK data infrastructure in the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway, the UK’s portal for data discovery. The NCS work in partnership with stakeholders from across the 4 UK nations to organise medical, biological, and social science data on an unprecedented scale. With over 600 datasets listed, the Gateway enables researchers to search and discover UK health datasets including exclusive datasets not available elsewhere.

The NCS data sharing principles commit the programme to an open, ethical, and transparent approach to using data. Privacy and confidentiality will always be respected, as per legal requirements. It is our ambition that sharing data openly will allow the global scientific community to pool expertise, draw fresh insights, and increase our collective understanding of COVID-19.

Governance

The NCS is directed by an Oversight Committee chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and has representatives from Scotland, Wales, England, and Northern Ireland. The committee offers expert advice and guidance to each study, provides quality assurance, and conducts rapid reviews of requests for new funding.

Oversight Committee

Members of the Oversight Committee include:

  • Sir Patrick Vallance, Government Chief Scientific Adviser (Chair)
  • Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer   
  • Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI  
  • Professor Sir John Bell, Oxford University  
  • Sir Jeremy Farrar, Wellcome  
  • Professor Sir Mike Ferguson, University of Dundee  
  • Professor Dame Anne Johnson, University College London  
  • Sir Harpal Kumar, Grail 
  • Dr Lynda Stuart, Gates Foundation
  • Dr Rob Orford, Chief Scientist for Health, Wales
  • Professor David Crossman, Chief Scientist for Health, Scotland
  • Professor Ian Young, Chief Scientist for Health, Northern Ireland

An international panel provide further insight from a global perspective:

  • Professor Margaret Hamburg, Chair, American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Professor Gagandeep Kang, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
  • Professor Gabriel Leung, Dean of Medicine, Hong Kong University

Events

COVID-19 National Core Studies Symposium: Scientific Insights in a Pandemic

The COVID-19 National Core Studies Symposium took place on Thursday 24 June 2021. Attended by more than 467 people from 26 countries, the symposium attracted patients, members of the public and colleagues from government, academia, industry, NHS, charities and the media.

Speakers including Patrick Vallance, Fiona Fox, Jeremy Farrar and Ottoline Leyser shared their insights on tackling a pandemic while study leads, senior academics, and front-line research scientists showcased how science has informed the policy and healthcare response to the pandemic both in the UK and internationally.

Outputs

The NCS include many research and research infrastructure projects. HDR UK began publishing a quarterly impact report in January 2022.

Read the reports.

Published 19 July 2021
Last updated 25 March 2022 + show all updates
  1. Added link to HDR UK quarterly report under outputs.

  2. First published.