Partner initiatives
The BQC19 collaborates with several national and international COVID-19 research initiatives to accomplish its mission.
Canadian COVID Genomics Network (CanCOGeN)
CanCOGeN is an initiative of the federally funded national platform for genome sequencing and analysis CGEn, and is a key partner of the BQC19. Through the HostSeq project, CanCOGeN funds and carries out Whole Genome Sequencing of host genomes collected within COVID-19 studies, including all samples collected by the BQC19.
The goal of HostSeq is to better characterize the role of human genetics in COVID-19 disease, deliver new biomarkers that predict people at higher risk, and implement appropriate healthcare strategies, including potential precision therapies. HostSeq aims at sequencing 10 000 human genomes.
Québec COVID – Pandemic Network (QCPN)
The Fonds de recherche du Québec created the Québec COVID – Pandemic Network to ensure that provincial COVID-19 research initiatives are better known and better connected to each other to maximize synergies. The BQC19 collaborates with the QCPN in the area of communication with the scientific community and in patient engagement (patient partners). In October 2021, the BQC19 hosted a special session on “The contribution of biobanks to public health during pandemics” in the QCPN annual conference.
National Microbiology Laboratory (NML)
The BQ19 collaborates with the NML to carry out immune-serologic analyses within its panel of core analyses on 2,000 samples. The NML will measure levels of neutralizing antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus in plasma samples collected by the BQC19. These data will then be made available to the scientific community through the BQC19 access process.
COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (HGI)
The COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative brings together the human genetics community to generate, share, and analyze data to learn the genetic determinants of COVID-19 susceptibility, severity, and outcomes. Such discoveries could help to generate hypotheses for drug repurposing, identify individuals at unusually high or low risk, and contribute to global knowledge of the biology of SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease.
More than 102 projects worldwide, including the BQC19, contribute data to this initiative. Notably, the BQC19 contributed data to the COVID-19 HGI flagship publication in the prestigious scientific journal Nature in 2021.
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Canadian COVID-19 Prospective Cohort Study (CANCOV)
CANCOV is an observational study that aims to study patients affected by COVID-19. Three BQC19 sites, the Jewish General Hospital (JGH), the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) and the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) contribute participants to CANCOV by offering BQC19 participants the possibility to enrol in CANCOV.
PROVID-19
The PROVID-19 study at the Centre de recherche du Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CRCHUS) investigates the possible effect of probiotics to reduce the duration and severity of COVID-19 symptoms. As of October 2021, more than ten BQC19 participants at the CHUS had already been enrolled in the PROVID-19 study.
IMPACT QUEBEC COVID-19
The IMPACT QUEBEC COVID-19 study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular health. It is spearheaded at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), in collaboration with the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) and the Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM). Recruitment, including from BQC19 participants, will begin at the CHUS at the end of 2021.