COVID-19 has disproportionately affected individuals with certain health conditions that affect their immune system, including those with Downs Syndrome. Despite vaccination and new drugs, these people continue to have a higher risk of severe disease than the general population if they fall ill with COVID-19. Over the next two years, STRAVINSKY aims to build our understanding of who is most clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and identify individuals or disease groups at highest risk. Using this information, STRAVINSKY will be able to assess the effectiveness of any upcoming booster vaccine programmes or new treatment strategies for these patients as well as respond if significant new COVID variants are detected.
The STRAVINSKY study aims to provide doctors, policymakers, and members of the public with up-to-date information on the impact of COVID-19, and future COVID-19 booster vaccinations, on people who are immune vulnerable. It will investigate whether an antibody test result can predict an individual’s risk of severe COVID-19 infection.
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About the research team
 Lead Researcher – Professor Alex Richter – Professor of Clinical Immunology, University of Birmingham |
 Co-lead Researcher -Dr Sean Lim, Associate Professor in Haematological Oncology, University of Southampton |
 Work package lead – Dr Michelle Willicombe, Clinical Reader in Renal Pathology and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust |
 Work package lead – Professor Eleanor Barnes, Professor of Hepatology and Experimental Medicine, University of Oxford |