The West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) of the University of Ghana co-leads a newly formed international consortium to conduct research that will provide an understanding of the basis for differences in the severity of COVID-19 in different regions of the world. The grant application was co-led by Dr. David Bauer from the Crick Institute and Prof. Gordon Awandare of WACCBIP, with Dr. Yaw Bediako and Dr.l Peter Quashie as key senior scientists from the University of Ghana. Yemaachi Biotech, a start-up company led by WACCBIP’s Yaw Bediako, is a key partner on the project. It is instructive to note that this grant was won through a very competitive process with applications coming from across the globe.
The WWW Consortium, which is supported by £3.1 million from the Wellcome Trust, links three leading studies; The Heritage study in West Africa, The Windfall study in the West Indies, and The Legacy project in West London, each tracking how both the virus and our immunity has evolved against COVID-19. It comprises researchers from the Francis Crick Institute (Dr. David Bauer & Dr. Emma Wall); the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens at the University of Ghana (Prof. Gordon Awandare, Dr. Yaw Bediako & Dr. Peter Quashie); The University of the West Indies (Prof. Christine Carrington & Dr. Joshua Anzinger), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (Dr. Adam Kucharski) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) UCLH Biomedical Research Centre.
The Heritage project is a longitudinal study of vaccine responses among Ghanaian adults vaccinated against SARS-COV-2 led by Dr. Yaw Bediako with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and involving a collaboration between Yemaachi Biotech, WACCBIP and the Ghana Health Service. The study seeks to leverage advanced immunophenotyping techniques to shed light on why vaccine responses appear to differ between different geographical regions.
Prof. Gordon Awandare, Director of WACCBIP, speaking on COVID-19 dynamics in West Africa said; “Pre-exposure to other infectious diseases like malaria is much more common in West Africa, and we think that this can increase the tolerance of the immune system”; noting that, “In some cases, this might be helpful, prepping the immune system for future infections and decreasing the chance of severe illness. But it might also mean that vaccines are less effective, and we should consider designing vaccines for specific populations.”
The Windfall study follows vaccinated and unvaccinated cohorts from across the West Indies, monitoring their immune responses to different SARS-CoV-2 variants, while the UCLH-Crick Legacy study builds upon the partnership between University College London Hospitals and the Francis Crick Institute to set up a unique testing pipeline and leverage on testing data as well as proactive tracking of individuals in establishing how factors like age, sex, ethnicity, and past and current medical histories impact the risk of infection and how the body responds.
Building on the success of the Crick African Network (CAN), which established strong ties between African institutions and the Francis Crick Institute, the WWW Consortium will strengthen research connections made during the pandemic, as virologists and public experts collaborated to piece together a picture of viral evolution globally.
West Africa experienced largely undetected SARS-CoV-2 transmission, but with negligible impacts on mortality. On the other hand, the West Indies presented similar trends to the UK, despite countries like Jamaica having a much lower vaccination rate. The consortium will provide evidence to help unpick patterns as seen so far in different areas of the world even as the virus continues to evolve and ensure that research and surveillance capacity continues to grow internationally.
