Wirral Life May 2020 | Page 20

W W L L Photo by McCoyWynne CALLING ALL WIRRAL LIFE READERS! Readers of Wirral Life can play a vital role in helping the University of Liverpool. Join them in supporting our incredible NHS and amazingly strong communities, just like the one you live in. Read on to find out how you can make a difference. The COVID-19 virus presents an exceptionally worrying and challenging time for all of us. Each of us has been affected. We have all had to adjust our lives, and daily routines have been turned upside-down. You, or someone you know, may have personal experience of the virus. Are you an essential key worker on the front line, or have you had to separate from your family to self-isolate? Perhaps you are juggling working from home with parenting and home teaching? At times like this and whatever your circumstances, it’s worth remembering that we’re all in this together. The University of Liverpool is actively involved in researching the current pandemic. Together with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and other research partners, we have directed the majority of Liverpool's research efforts to COVID-19. Currently more than 150 researchers are undertaking crucial research into the virus in an effort to better understand and tackle the global pandemic. Professor Calum Semple, Professor of Outbreak Medicine at the University of Liverpool, is leading a team working to understand the nature of the virus and how it spreads, as well as looking to develop effective drug treatments including a potential vaccine. In the University's Department of Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, a team led by Professor Andrew Owen, is working with associates to help prevent healthcare workers from becoming infected. If successful, this could be deployed like a vaccine which, topped up intermittently, would provide them with vital protection while caring for those most in need. The Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging Zoonotic Infections (HPRU EZI) and the Centre of Excellence in Infectious Diseases Research (CEIDR), led by Professor Tom Solomon and Professor William Hope respectively, are working together to deliver an impressive and forward-thinking programme of work in diagnostics and genome sequencing. Working in collaboration with Liverpool Health Partners, The University are supporting the NHS, our local community and the city’s public health agenda through a variety of means. 20 wirrallife.com The University is making student accommodation and its car parks available to NHS staff. Engineers are using their expertise in 3D-printing and laser cutting technologies to produce protective visors and oxygen compressors which are being made available to the NHS. There are clinical academics, including Professor Louise Kenny (pictured), who have returned to front-line medicine, and final year medical students who are volunteering to support patient care in local hospitals. In addition to this, thousands of medical students and staff volunteers are supporting in non-clinical areas such as providing childcare for key workers and food distribution across the city. The University is working hard to support the NHS and local community; however, they cannot do this alone. We invite you to join them in fighting this global pandemic through our COVID-19 Emergency Response Campaign. Firstly, if you are able to donate any of the medical supplies listed below, please contact [email protected]. • • • • • • • Surgical scrubs / plastic aprons / gowns /gloves Water resistant surgical masks FFP3 masks Visors Surgical caps QIAsymphony Virus/Bacteria midi kit 937055 QIAamp MinElute Virus Spin Kit 57704 Secondly, if you would like to donate to the COVID-19 Emergency Response Campaign, your donation, whatever the size, will make a real impact. This will allow The University to fund world-changing research and make further advances in the understanding and treatment of Coronavirus. In the first week of its launch, campaign supporters raised an incredible £61,951. Become one of their COVID-19 Emergency Response Campaign supporters by donating via our website https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/coronavirus/support- us/about-campaign/ Finally, if you would like to join their supporter community, you can find them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LivUni or @ LivUniAlumni for updates. They would be incredibly grateful if you could share the campaign with your family, friends and networks. For any contribution you are able to make to the campaign, on behalf of the University of Liverpool, colleagues in the NHS and the Liverpool City Region, we thank you.