J. Kenneth Baillie | |
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| Academic background | |
| Education | Edinburgh University |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Critical care,genomics |
| Institutions | University of Edinburgh |
| Website | www |
Kenneth Baillie FRSE FMedSci ,Professor of Experimental Medicine at the University of Edinburgh,is a medical scientist working in genomics in critical care medicine and respiratory infection.
Through his work in genomics,he has made several discoveries including finding multiple human genes that are important in critical illness caused by influenza. [1] and COVID-19. [2] [3] He started the GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study in 2016, [4] to study genetic predisposition to a wide range of severe infections. [5] In 2020 he expanded the study [6] and used it to discover human genes that cause susceptibility to severe Covid-19 [7] This discovery led directly to the finding that a new drug,baricitinib,is an effective treatment for severe Covid-19. [8] [9] He discovered a further 23 genes underlying severe Covid-19 in 2021. [10]
He also played a leading role in designing,setting up and delivering the RECOVERY Trial that discovered four effective treatments for critical Covid-19. He was one of the first to systematically review the evidence for steroid treatment in Covid-19,warning of the need for trials in 2020,and contributing to the discovery that the steroid,dexamethasone,works as a highly effective treatment. [11] [12] He led the UK ISARIC4C consortium, [13] which coordinated UK-wide clinical research to understand Covid-19 [14]
In 2001 he led the first Apex (altitude physiology expeditions) research expedition to a high altitude laboratory in Bolivia, [15] and discovered that acute mountain sickness is two separate conditions, [16] leading to a new international consensus definition of the disease. [17]
He has worked with WHO on influenza,MERS,Ebola and COVID-19,conceiving and drafting a research protocol for global preparedness and harmonisation that was used for the first clinical description of COVID-19. [18] During the Covid-19 pandemic he advised the UK government on clinical management of the outbreak, [19] and advocated for public health measures to contain the pandemic. [20]
Baillie is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences [21] and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh(FRSE). He has received several awards from the public,including the Herald newspaper's Heroes of the Year (2020) [22] and a Pride of Scotland "special recognition" award in 2021. [23] In 2022 he was awarded the University of Edinburgh Chancellor's Award for Research. [24] He is one of the ISI Highly Cited Researchers [25]
Oseltamivir, sold under the brand name Tamiflu, is an antiviral medication used to treat and prevent influenza A and influenza B, viruses that cause the flu. Many medical organizations recommend it in people who have complications or are at high risk of complications within 48 hours of first symptoms of infection. They recommend it to prevent infection in those at high risk, but not the general population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that clinicians use their discretion to treat those at lower risk who present within 48 hours of first symptoms of infection. It is taken by mouth, either as a pill or liquid.
Umifenovir, sold under the brand name Arbidol, is an antiviral medication for the treatment of influenza and COVID infections used in Russia and China. The drug is manufactured by Pharmstandard. It is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment or prevention of influenza.
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu" or just "flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms begin one to four days after exposure to the virus and last for about two to eight days. Diarrhea and vomiting can occur, particularly in children. Influenza may progress to pneumonia from the virus or a subsequent bacterial infection. Other complications include acute respiratory distress syndrome, meningitis, encephalitis, and worsening of pre-existing health problems such as asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Edinburgh BioQuarter is an initiative in the development of Scotland's life sciences industry, which, as of August 2020, employs more than 39,000 people in over 750 organisations.
Dr Vinod Scaria FRSB, FRSPH is an Indian biologist, medical researcher pioneering in Precision Medicine and Clinical Genomics in India. He is best known for sequencing the first Indian genome. He was also instrumental in the sequencing of The first Sri Lankan Genome, analysis of the first Malaysian Genome sequencing and analysis of the Wild-type strain of Zebrafish and the IndiGen programme on Genomics for Public Health in India.
Favipiravir, sold under the brand name Avigan among others, is an antiviral medication used to treat influenza in Japan. It is also being studied to treat a number of other viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2. Like the experimental antiviral drugs T-1105 and T-1106, it is a pyrazinecarboxamide derivative.
Riamilovir is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug developed in Russia through a joint effort of Ural Federal University, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ural Center for Biopharma Technologies and Medsintez Pharmaceutical. It has a novel triazolotriazine core, which represents a new structural class of non-nucleoside antiviral drugs.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Drug repositioning is the repurposing of an approved drug for the treatment of a different disease or medical condition than that for which it was originally developed. This is one line of scientific research which is being pursued to develop safe and effective COVID-19 treatments. Other research directions include the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and convalescent plasma transfusion.
COVID-19 drug development is the research process to develop preventative therapeutic prescription drugs that would alleviate the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). From early 2020 through 2021, several hundred drug companies, biotechnology firms, university research groups, and health organizations were developing therapeutic candidates for COVID-19 disease in various stages of preclinical or clinical research, with 419 potential COVID-19 drugs in clinical trials, as of April 2021.
Convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from a survivor of an infectious disease. This plasma contains antibodies specific to a pathogen and can be used therapeutically by providing passive immunity when transfusing it to a newly infected patient with the same condition. Convalescent plasma can be transfused as it has been collected or become the source material for hyperimmune serum or anti-pathogen monoclonal antibodies; the latter consists exclusively of IgG, while convalescent plasma also includes IgA and IgM. Collection is typically achieved by apheresis, but in low-to-middle income countries, the treatment can be administered as convalescent whole blood.
The treatment and management of COVID-19 combines both supportive care, which includes treatment to relieve symptoms, fluid therapy, oxygen support as needed, and a growing list of approved medications. Highly effective vaccines have reduced mortality related to SARS-CoV-2; however, for those awaiting vaccination, as well as for the estimated millions of immunocompromised persons who are unlikely to respond robustly to vaccination, treatment remains important. Some people may experience persistent symptoms or disability after recovery from the infection, known as long COVID, but there is still limited information on the best management and rehabilitation for this condition.
The Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy is a large-enrollment clinical trial of possible treatments for people in the United Kingdom admitted to hospital with severe COVID-19 infection. The trial was later expanded to Indonesia, Nepal and Vietnam. The trial has tested ten interventions on adults: eight repurposed drugs, one newly developed drug and convalescent plasma.
David Horn FRSE, is a Welcome Trust Senior Investigator, professor of parasite molecular biology, deputy head of the Division of Biological Chemistry and Drug Discovery and deputy director of the Welcome Trust Centre for Anti-Infectives Research in the School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee. His research is focused on antigenic variation, drug action and resistance and the application of genetic screens to African trypanosomes: parasitic protists that cause sleeping sickness or Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT) and the livestock disease, nagana.
The MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford is a research institute located at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Founded in 1989 by Sir David Weatherall, the institute focuses on furthering our understanding of clinical medicine at a molecular level. It was one of the first institutes of its kind in the world to be dedicated to research in this area.
Shabir Ahmed Madhi, is a South African physician who is professor of vaccinology and director of the South African Medical Research Council Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, and National Research Foundation/Department of Science and Technology Research Chair in Vaccine Preventable Diseases. In January 2021, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are anti-malarial medications also used against some auto-immune diseases. Chloroquine, along with hydroxychloroquine, was an early experimental treatment for COVID-19. Neither drug has been useful to prevent or treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. Administration of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients has been associated with increased mortality and adverse effects, such as QT prolongation. Researchers estimate that off-label use of hydroxychloroquine in hospitals during the first phase of the pandemic caused 17,000 deaths worldwide. The widespread administration of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, either as monotherapies or in conjunction with azithromycin, has been associated with deleterious outcomes, including QT interval prolongation. As of 2024, scientific evidence does not substantiate the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine, with or without the addition of azithromycin, in the therapeutic management of COVID-19.
Michael Barrett is Professor of Biochemical Parasitology at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on understanding how drugs work against parasites and how parasites become resistant to drugs. He is also Director of Glasgow Polyomics, a facility specialising in genomic, proteomic and metabolomic technologies, and directs the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA). Barrett advises several international organisations on issues surrounding drug development and resistance, including the World Health Organization (WHO) where he is part of the expert group on human African trypanosomiasis and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).
Enisamium iodide is a derivative of isonicotinic acid. Based on its systematic chemical name of N-benzyl-1-methylpyridin-1-ium-4-carboxamide iodide, the shortened name carbabenzpiride is sometimes used. Enisamium iodide is a registered antiviral drug sold in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Belarus, and other Eastern European countries under the trade names Amizon, Amizon Max, Amizonchik.
Anthony Gordon is a British clinician scientist and the Chair of Anaesthesia & Critical Care at Imperial College London and works as an intensive care consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
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