St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation contributes to COVID-19 research efforts with dedicated grant

In response to a crisis that is affecting us all, St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation is pleased to announce the creation of a dedicated COVID-19 research grant. The $100,000 funding aims to support the medical community to address the challenges posed by the pandemic.

The St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation COVID-19 Research grant will champion one or several research projects across the St Vincent’s campus in Sydney. The funding will enable clinicians and researchers to carry out research work focused on any current or future issues related to COVID-19. The scope of the grant, deliberately broad, aims to support research into any aspect of the testing for, patient treatment of or elimination of the COVID-19 virus and includes, without limitation, projects aimed at examining the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on patient care, families, clinical staff, hospital facilities and our St Vincent’s healthcare systems responding to COVID-19. 

St Vincent’s has a long and proud history of dealing with virus outbreaks. It started in 1844, when the Sisters of Charity (who later founded St Vincent’s Hospital) assisted families during the then influenza epidemic. Over a century later, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney led the way in HIV/AIDS care, opening the first dedicated HIV/AIDS ward in Australia in 1984, and has since become a centre of excellence in the diagnosis and compassionate care of those living with HIV. 

 “In these unprecedented times, we recognise the extraordinary efforts of front line workers in dealing with the COVID-19 emergency, and the major role of research to help them in this daunting challenge,” said A/Prof Brett Courtenay OAM, President of St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation. “Times like these demonstrate not only the importance of research, but also of the connection between research and patient care – a connection that we, at the St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation, value and champion. I believe it is our role, as a long-standing research foundation, to step up and help the medical community in their research efforts. The St Vincent’s campus hosts an incredible pool of talented clinicians and researchers, and I know that many of them are already developing research projects in relation to COVID-19, despite the lack of funding. With this grant, the best of them will get the support they need to push the boundaries of the unknown and contribute, one way or another, to the relief of the COVID-19 crisis.”

Since its creation in 1992, St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation has awarded over 400 grants to support uncharted medical research across the St Vincent’s Darlinghurst campus, which comprises leading healthcare and research organisations.

If you want to support the St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation’s work, as an individual or an organisation, visit: www.svcf.com.au/donate